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NUTCRACKEE  AND  MOUSE-KING. 


THE     NFT-CRACKER 


NUTCRACKER  AND  MOUSE-KING. 


TRANSLATED 


FROM  THE  GERMAN  OF  HOFFMAN, 

BY 

MKS.  ST.  SIMOK 

itfitjf  3üustratinn3  de  Wut 


NEW-YORK : 

D.  APPLETON  &  COMPANY,  200  BROADWAY. 

1853. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1S52,  by 

D.  APPLETON  &  CO., 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Southern  District  of  New- York. 


A 


NUTCRACKER  AND  MOUSE-KING. 


CHRISTMAS  EVE. 


Dueing>  the  long,  long  clay  of  the  twenty- 
fourth  of  December,  the  children  of  Doctor 
Stahlbaum  were  not  permitted  to  enter  the  par- 
lor, much  less  the  adjoining  drawing-room. 
Frederic  and  Maria  sat  nestled  together  in  a 
corner  of  the  back  chamber ;  dusky  twilight 
had  come  on,  and  they  felt  quite  gloomy  and 
fearful,  for,  as  was  commonly  the  case  on  this 
day,  no  light  was  brought  in  to  them.  Fred, 
in  great  secrecy,  and  in  a  whisper,  informed  his 


6  NUTCRACKER   AND   HOUSE-KING. 

little  sister  (slie  was  only  just  seven  years  old), 
that  ever  since  morning  be  had  heard  a  rustling 
and  a  rattling,  and  now  and  then  a  gentle 
knocking,  in  the  forbidden  chambers.  Kot  long 
ago  also  he  had  seen  a  little  dark  man,  with  a 
large  chest  under  his  arm,  gliding  softly  through 
the  entry,  but  he  knew  very  well  that  it  was 
nobody  but  Godfather  Drosselmeier.  Upon 
this  Maria  clapped  her  little  hands  together  for 
joy,  and  exclaimed,  "  Ah,  what  beautiful  things 
has  Godfather  Drosselmeier  made  for  us  this 
time!" 

Counsellor  Drosselmeier  was  not  a  very 
handsome  man ;  he  was  small  and  thin,  had 
many  wrinkles  in  his  face,  over  his  right  e}^e  he 
had  a  large  black  patch,  and  he  was  without 
hair,  for  which  reason  he  wore  a  very  nice  white 
wig  ;  this  was  made  of  glass  however,  and  was  a 
very  ingenious  piece  of  work.  The  Godfather 
himself  was  very  ingenious  also,  he  understood 
all  about  clocks  and  watches,  and  could  even 


NTJTCKACKEB   AND   MOUSE-KING.  7 

make  them.  Accordingly,  wlien  any  one  of  tlie 
beautiful  clocks  in  Doctor  Stahlbaum's  house 
was  sick,  and  could  not  sing,  Godfather  Drossel- 
nder would  have  to  attend  it.  He  would  then 
take  off  his  glass  wig,  pull  off  his  brown  coat, 
put  on  a  blue  apron,  and  pierce  the  clock  with 
sharp-pointed  instruments,  which  usually  caused 
little  Maria  a  great  deal  of  anxiety.  But  it  did 
the  clock  no  harm  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  became 
quite  lively  again,  and  began  at  once  right 
merrily  to  rattle,  and  to  strike,  and  to  sing,  so 
that  it  was  a  pleasure  to  all  who  heard  it. 
Whenever  he  came,  he  always  brought  some- 
thing pretty  in  his  pocket  for  the  children,  some- 
times a  little  man  who  moved  his  eyes  and  made 
a  1)0 w,  at  others,  a  box,  from  which  a  little  bird 
hopped  out  when  it  was  opened — sometimes  one 
thins;,  sometimes  another. 

When  Christmas  Eve  came,  he  had  always  a 
beautiful  piece  of  work  prepared  for  them,  which 
had  cost  him  a  great  deal  of  trouble,  and  on  this 


8  NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING. 

account  it  was  always  carefully  preserved  by 
their  parents,  after  he  had  given  it  to  them. 
"Ah,  what  beautiful  present  lias  Godfather 
Drosselmeier  made  for  us  this  time  !  "  exclaimed 
Maria.  It  was  Fred's  opinion  that  this  time  it 
could  be  nothing  else  than  a  castle,  in  which  all 
kinds  of  fine  soldiers  marched  up  and  down  and 
went  through  their  exercises ;  then  other  soldiers 
would  come,  and  try  to  break  into  the  castle,  but 
the  soldiers  within  would  fire  off  their  cannon 
very  bravely,  until  all  roared  and  cracked  again. 
"  No,  no,"  cried  Maria,  interrupting  him,  "  God- 
father Drosselmeier  has  told  me  of  a  lovely  gar- 
den where  there  is  a  great  lake,  upon  which 
beautiful  swans  swim  about,  with  golden  collars 
around  their  necks,  and  sins:  their  sweetest  son^s. 
Then  there  comes  a  little  girl  out  of  the  garden 
down  along  the  lake,  and  coaxes  the  swans  to 
the  shore,  and  feeds  them  with  sweet  cake." 

"  Swans  never  eat  cake,"  interrupted  Fred, 
somewhat  roughly,  "  and  even  Godfather  Dros- 


NUTCBACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING.  9 

selmeier  himself  can't  make  a  whole  garden. 
After  all,  we  have  little  good  of  his  playthings  ; 
they  are  all  taken  right  away  from  us  again.  I 
like  what  Papa  and  Mamma  give  us  much  Let- 
ter, for  we  can  keep  their  presents  for  ourselves, 
and  do  as  we  please  with  them."  The  children 
now  began  once  more  to  guess  what  it  could  be 
this  time.  Maria  thought  that  Miss  Trutchen 
(her  great  doll)  was  growing  very  old,  for  she 
fell  almost  every  moment  upon  the  floor,  and 
more  awkwardly  than  ever,  which  could  not 
happen  without  leaving  sad  marks  upon  her  face, 
and  as  to  neatness  in  dress,  this  was  now  alto- 
gether out  of  the  question  with  her.  Scolding 
did  not  help  the  matter  in  the  least.  Frederic 
declared,  on  the  other  hand,  that  a  bay  horse 
was  wanting  in  his  stable,  and  his  troops  were 
very  deficient  in  cavalry,  as  his  Papa  very  well 
knew. 

By  this   time   it  had  become   quite   dark. 
Frederic  and  Maria  sat  close  together,  and  did 


10  NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING. 

not  venture  again  to  speak  a  word.  It  seemed 
now  as  if  soft  wings  rustled  around  them,  and 
very  distant,  but  sweet  music  was  heard  at  inter- 
vals. At  this  moment  a  shrill  sound  broke  upon 
their  ears — kling,  ling — kling,  ling — the  doors 
flew  wide  open,  and  such  a  dazzling  light  broke 
out  from  the  great  chamber,  that  with  the  loud 
exclamation,  "  Ah  !  ah ! 17  the  children  stood  fixed 
at  the  threshold.  But  Papa  and  Mamma 
stepped  to  the  door,  took  them  by  the  hand,  and 
said,  "  Come,  come,  dear  children,  and  see  what 
Christmas  has  brought  you  this  year." 


THE  GIFTS. 

Kind  reader,  or  listener,  whatever  may  be 
your  name,  whether  Frank,  Robert,  Henry, — 
Anna  or  Maria,  I  beg  you  to  call  to  mind  the 
table  covered  with  your  last  Christmas  gifts,  as 
in  their  newest  gloss  they  first  appeared  to  your 


NUTCEACKEE   AND   MOUSE-KE&TG.  11 

delighted  vision.  You  will  then  "be  able  to  im- 
agine  the  astonishment  of  the  children,  as  they 
stood  with  sparkling  eyes,  unable  to  utter  a 
word,  for  joy  at  the  sight  before  them.  At  last 
Maria  called  out  with  a  deep  sigh,  "  Ah,  how 
beautiful !  ah,  how  beautiful !"  and  Frederic 
gave  two  or  three  leaps  in  the  air  higher  than  he 
had  ever  done  before.  The  children  must  have 
been  very  obedient  and  good  children  during  the 
past  year,  for  never  on  any  Christmas  Eve  before, 
had  so  many  beautiful  things  been  given  to 
them.  A  tall  Fir  tree  stood  in  the  middle  of 
the  room,  covered  with  gold  and  silver  apples, 
while  sugar  almonds,  comfits,  lemon  drops,  and 
every  kind  of  confectionery,  hung  like  buds  and 
blossoms  upon  all  its  branches.  But  the  great- 
est beauty  about  this  wonderful  tree,  was  the 
many  little  lights  that  sparkled  amid  its  dark 
boughs,  which  like  stars  illuminated  its  treasures, 
or  like  friendly  eyes  seemed  to  invite  the  child- 
ren to  partake  of  its  blossoms  and  fruit. 


12  NUTCRACKER   AND  MOUSE-KING. 

Tlie  table  under  the  tree  shone  and  flushed 
with  a  thousand  different  colors — ah,  what  beau- 
tiful things  were  there  !  who  can  describe  them  \ 
Maria  spied  the  prettiest  dolls,  a  tea  set,  all 
kinds  of  nice  little  furniture,  and  what  eclipsed 
all  the  rest,  a  silk  dress  tastefully  ornamented 
with  gay  ribbons,  which  hung  upon  a  frame 
before  her  eyes,  so  that  she  could  view  it  on 
every  side.  This  she  did  too,  and  exclaimed 
over  and  over  again,  "  Ah,  the  sweet — ah,  the 
dear,  dear  frock  !  and  may  I  put  it  on  ?  yes,  yes 
— may  I  really,  though,  wear  it  ?" 

In  the  meanwhile  Fred  had  been  galloping 
round  and  round  the  room,  trying  his  new  bay 
horse,  which,  true  enough,  he  had  found,  fast- 
ened by  its  bridle  to  the  table.  Dismounting 
again,  he  said  it  was  a  wild  creature,  but  that 
was  nothing ;  he  would  soon  break  him.  He 
then  reviewed  his  new  regiment  of  hussars, 
who  were  very  elegantly  arrayed  in  red  and 
gold,  and  carried  silver  weapons,  and  rode  upon 


ISTUTCEACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING.  13 

such  bright  shining  horses,  that  yon  would 
almost  believe  these  were  of  pure  silver  also. 
The  children  had  now  become  somewhat  more 
composed,  and  turned  to  the  picture  books, 
which  lay  open  on  the  table,  where  all  kinds 
of  beautiful  flowers,  and  gayly  dressed  people, 
and  boys  and  girls  at  play,  were  painted  as 
natural  as  if  they  were  alive.  Yes,  the  child- 
ren had  just  turned  to  these  singular  books, 
when — kling,  ling,  kling,  ling — the  bell  was 
heard  again.  They  knew  that  Godfather  Dros- 
selmeier  was  now  about  to  display  his  Christmas 
gift,  and  ran  towards  a  table  that  stood  against 
the  wall,  covered  by  a  curtain  reaching  from  the 
ceiling  to  the  floor.  The  curtain  behind  which 
he  had  remained  so  long  concealed,  was  quickly 
drawn  aside,  and  what  saw  the  children  then  ? 

Upon  a  green  meadow,  spangled  with 
flowers,  stood  a  noble  castle,  with  clear  glass 
windows  and  golden  turrets.  A  musical  clock 
began  to  play,  when  the  doors  and  windows 


14  NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING. 

flew  open,  and  little  men  and  women,  with. 
feathers  in  their  hats,  and  long  flowing  trains, 
were  seen  sauntering  about  in  the  rooms.  In 
the  middle  hall,  which  seemed  as  if  it  were  all 
on  fire,  so  many  little  tapers  were  "burning  in 
silver  chandeliers,  there  were  children  in  white 
frocks  and  green  jackets,  dancing  to  the  sound 
of  the  music.  A  man  in  an  emerald-green 
cloak,  at  intervals  put  his  head  out  of  the 
window,  nodded,  and  then  disappeared ;  and 
Godfather  Drosselmeier  himself,  only  that  he 
was  not  much  bigger  than  Papa's  thumb, 
came  now  and  then  to  the  door  of  the  castle, 
looked  about  him,  and  then  went  in  again. 
Fred,  with  his  arms  resting  upon  the  table, 
gazed  at  the  beautiful  castle,  and  the  little  walk- 
ing and  dancing  figures,  and  then  said,  "  God- 
father  Drosselmeier,  let  me  go  into  your  castle." 
The  Counsellor  gave  him  to  understand  that 
that  could  not  be  done.  And  he  was  right,  for 
it  was  foolish  in  Fred  to  wish  to  go  into  a  castle, 


NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING.  15 

which  with,  all  its  golden  turrets  was  not  as  high. 
as  his  head.  Fred  saw  that  likewise  himself. 
After  a  while  as  the  men  and  women  kept  walk- 
ing back  and  forth,  and  the  children  danced, 
and  the  emerald  man  looked  out  at  his  window, 
and  Godfather  Drosselmeier  came  to  the  door, 
and  all  without  the  least  change ;  Fred  called 
out  impatiently,  "  Godfather  Drosselmeier,  come 
out  this  time  at  the  other  door." 

"  That  can  never  be,  dear  Fred,"  said  the 
Counsellor. 

"  Well  then,"  continued  Frederic,  "  let  the 
green  man  who  peeps  out  at  the  window  walk 
about  with  the  rest." 

"  And  that  can  never  be,"  rejoined  the 
Counsellor. 

"Then  the  children  must  come  down,"  cried 
Fred,  "  I  want  to  see  them  nearer." 

"  All  that  can  never  be,  I  say,"  replied  the 
Counsellor,  a  little  out  of  humor.  "  As  the 
mechanism  is  made,  so  it  must  remain." 


16  NUTCEACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING. 

"  So o,"  cried  Fred,  in  a  drawling  tone, 

"  all  that  can  never  be !  Listen,  Godfather  Dros- 
selnieier.  If  your  little  dressed  up  figures  in 
the  castle  there,  can  do  nothing  else  but  always 
the  same  thing,  they  are  not  good  for  rauch,  and 
I  care  very  little  about  them.  No,  give  me  my 
hussars,  who  can  manoeuvre  backward  and  for- 
ward, as  I  order  them,  and  are  not  shat  up  in  a 
house." 

\Yith  this,  he  darted  towards  a  large  table, 
drew  up  his  regiment  upon  their  silver  horses, 
and  let  them  trot  and  gallop,  and  cut  and  slash, 
to  his  heart's  content.  Maria  also  had  softly 
stolen  away,  for  she  too  was  soon  tired  of  the 
sauntering  and  dancing  puppets  in  the  castle ; 
but  as  she  was  very  amiable  and  good,  she  did 
not  wish  it  to  be  observed  so  plainly  in  her  as  it 
was  hi  her  brother  Fred.  Counsellor  Drossel- 
meier  turned  to  the  parents,  and  said,  somewhat 
angrily,  "  An  ingenious  work  like  this  was  not 
made  for  stupid  children.     I  will  put  up  my  cas- 


NUTCRACKER   AND    MOUSE-KING.  17 

tie  again,  and  cany  it  home."  But  their  mother 
now  stepped  forward,  and  desired  to  see  the 
secret  mechanism  and  curious  works  by  which 
the  little  figures  were  set  in  motion.  The  Coun- 
sellor took  it  all  apart,  and  then  put  it  together 
again.  While  he  was  employed  in  this  manner 
he  became  good-natured  once  more,  and  gave  the 
children  some  nice  brown  men  and  women,  with 
gilt  faces,  hands,  and  feet.  They  were  all  made 
of  sweet  thorn,  and  smelt  like  gingerbread,  at 
which  Frederic  and  Maria  were  greatly  delight- 
ed. At  her  mother's  request,  the  elder  sister, 
Louise,  had  put  on  the  new  dress  which  had 
been  given  to  her,  and  she  looked  most  charm- 
ingly in  it,  but  Maria,  when  it  came  to  her  turn, 
thought  she  would  like  to  look  at  hers  a  while 
longer  as  it  hung.     This  was  readily  permitted. 


18  mJTCEACKER   AND    MOUSE-KXXG. 


THE  FAVORITE. 

The  trutli  is,  Maria  was  unwilling  to  leave 
the  table  then,  because  she  had  discovered  some- 
thing upon  it,  which  no  one  had  yet  remarked. 
By  the  marching  out  of  Fred's  hussars,  who  had 
been  drawn  up  close  to  the  tree,  a  curious  little 
man  came  into  view,  who  stood  there  silent  and 
retired,  as  if  he  were  waiting  quietly  for  his  turn 
to  be  noticed.  It  must  be  confessed,  a  great 
deal  could  not  be  said  in  favor  of  the  beauty  of 
his  figure,  for  not  only  was  his  rather  broad, 
stout  body,  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  little, 
slim  legs  that  carried  it,  but  his  head  was  by  far 
too  large  for  either.  A  genteel  dress  went  a 
great  way  to  compensate  for  these  defects,  and 
led  to  the  belief  that  he  must  be  a  man  of  taste 
and  good  breeding.  He  wore  a  hussar's  jacket 
of  beautiful  bright  violet,  fastened  together  with 
white  loops  and  buttons,  pantaloons  of  exactly 


KUTCBACKEE   AND   MOUSE-KING.  19 


the  same  color,  and  the  neatest  boots  that  ever 
graced  the  foot  of  a  student  or  an  officer.  They 
fitted  as  tight  to  his  little  legs  as  if  they  were 
painted  upon  them.  It  was  laughable  to  see, 
that  in  addition  to  this  handsome  apparel,  he 
had  hung  upon  his  back  a  narrow  clumsy  cloak, 
that  looked  as  if  it  were  made  of  wood,  and  upon 
his  head  he  wore  a  woodman's  cap ;  but  Maria  re- 
membered that  Godfather  Drosselmeier  wore  an 
old  shabby  cloak  and  an  ugly  cap,  and  still  he  was 
a  dear,  dear  godfather.  Maria  could  not  help 
thinking  also,  that  even  if  Godfather  Drosselmeier 
were  in  other  respects  as  well  dressed  as  this  lit- 
tle fellow,  yet  after  all  he  would  not  look  half  so 
handsome  as  he.  The  longer  Maria  gazed  upon 
the  little  man  whom  she  had  taken  a  liking  to  at 
first  sight,  the  more  she  was  sensible  how  much 
good  nature  and  friendliness  was  expressed  in  his 
features.  Nothing  but  kindness  and  benevolence 
shone  in  his  clear  green,  though  somewhat  too 
prominent  eyes.     It  was  very  becoming  to  the 


20  NUTCEACKER   AND   MOUSE-KENTG. 

man  that  he  wore  about  his  chin  a  nicely  trim- 
med beard  of  white  cotton,  for  by  this  the  sweet 
smile  upon  Ms  deep  red  lips  was  rendered  much 
more  striking.  "  Ah,  dear  father,"  exclaimed 
Maria  at  last,  "to  whom  belongs  that  charming 
little  man  by  the  tree  there  ?" 

"  He  shall  work  industriously  for  you  all, 
dear  child,"  said  her  father.  "  He  can  crack  the 
hardest  nuts  with  his  teeth,  and  he  belongs  as 
well  to  Louise  as  to  you  and  Fred."  With  these 
words  her  father  took  him  carefully  from  the 
table,  and  raised  up  his  wooden  cloak,  whereupon 
the  little  man  stretched  his  mouth  wide  ojDen,  and 
showed  two  rows  of  very  white  sharp  teeth.  At 
her  father's  bidding  Maria  put  in  a  nut,  and — 
crack — the  man  had  bitten  it  in  two,  so  that  the 
shell  fell  off,  and  Maria  caught  the  sweet  kernel 
in  her  hand.  Maria  and  the  other  two  children 
were  now  informed  that  this  dainty  little  man 
came  of  the  family  of  Nutcrackers,  and  practised 
the  profession  of  his  forefathers.    Maria  was  over- 


NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING.  21 

joyed  at  what  she  heard,  and  her  father  said, 
"  Dear  Maria,  since  friend  Nutcracker  is  so  great 
a  favorite  with  you,  I  place  him  under  your  par- 
ticular care  and  keeping,  although,  as  I  said  be- 
fore, Louise  and  Fred  shall  have  as  much  right 
to  his  services  as  you." 

Maria  took  him  immediately  in  her  arms,  and 
set  him  to  cracking  nuts,  but  she  picked  out  the 
smallest,  that  the  little  fellow  need  not  stretch 
his  mouth  open  so  wide,  which  in  truth  was  not 
very  becoming  to  him.  Louise  sat  down  by  her, 
and  friend  Nutcracker  must  perform  the  same 
service  for  her  too,  which  he  seemed  to  do  quite 
willingly,  for  he  kept  smiling  all  the  while  very 
pleasantly.  In  the  mean  time  Fred  had  become 
tired  of  riding  and  parading  his  hussars,  and  when 
he  heard  the  nuts  crack  so  merrily,  he  ran  to  his 
sister,  and  laughed  very  heartily  at  the  droll  lit- 
tle man,  who  now,  since  Fred  must  have  a  share 
in  the  sport,  passed  from  hand  to  hand,  and  thus 
there  was  no  end  to  his  labor.     Fred  always  chose 


22  NUTCEACKEE   AND   MOUSE-KING. 

the  biggest  and  hardest  nuts,  when  all  at  once — 
crack — crack — it  went,  and  three  teeth  fell  out 
of  Nutcracker's  mouth,  and  his  whole  under  jaw 
became  loose  and  rickety.  "  Ah,  my  poor  dear 
Nutcracker  I"  said  Maria,  and  snatched  him  out 
of  Fred's  hands. 

"That's  a  stupid  fellow,"  said  Fred.  "He 
wants  to  be  a  nutcracker,  and  has  poor  teeth — 
he  don't  understand  his  trade.  Give  him  to  me, 
Maria.  He  shall  crack  nuts  for  me  if  he  loses 
all  his  teeth,  and  his  whole  chin  into  the  bargain. 
YvThy  make  such  a  fuss  about  such  a  fellow  V 

"  No,  no,"  exclaimed  Maria,  weeping ;  "  you 
shall  not  have  my  dear  Nutcracker.  See  how 
sorrowfully  he  looks  at  me,  and  shows  me  his 
poor  mouth.  But  you  are  a  hard-hearted  fellow ; 
you  beat  your  horses ;  yes,  and  lately  you  had 
one  of  your  soldiers  shot  through  the  head." 

"That's  all  right,"  said  Fred,  "though  you 
don't  understand  it.  But  Nutcracker  belongs  as 
much  to  me  as  to  you,  so  let  me  have  him." 


NUTCRACKEK   AND   MOUSE-KING.  23 

Maria  began  to  cry  bitterly,  and  rolled  up 
the  sick  Nutcracker  as  quickly  as  she  could  in  her 
little  pocket  handkerchief.  Thei:  parents  now 
came  up  with  Godfather  Drosselmeier.  The  lat- 
ter, to  Maria's  great  distress,  took  Fred's  part. 
But  their  father  said,  "  I  have  placed  Nutcracker 
expressly  under  Maria's  protection,  and  as  I  see 
that  he  is  now  greatly  in  need  of  it,  I  give  her 
full  authority  over  him,  and  no  one  must  dispute 
it.  Besides,  I  wonder  at  Fred,  that  he  should 
require  farther  duty  from  one  who  has  been 
maimed  in  the  service.  As  a  good  soldier,  he 
ought  to  know  that  the  wounded  are  not  expected 
to  take  their  place  in  the  ranks." 

Fred  was  much  ashamed,  and  without  troub- 
ling himself  farther  about  nuts  or  Nutcracker, 
stole  around  to  the  opposite  end  of  the  table, 
where  his  hussars,  after  stationing  suitable  out- 
posts, had  encamped  for  the  night.  Maria  col- 
lected together  Nutcracker's  lost  teeth,  tied  up 
his  wounded  chin  with  a  nice  white  ribbon  which 


24  ISTCTTCR  ACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING. 

slie  had  taken  from  her  dress,  and  then  wrapped 
up  the  little  fellow  more  carefully  than  ever  in 
her  handkerchief,  for  he  looked  very  pale  and 
frightened.  Thus  she  held  him,  rocking  him  in 
her  arms  like  a  little  child,  while  she  looked  over 
the  beautiful  pictures  of  the  new  picture-book, 
which  she  found  among  her  other  Christmas 
gifts.  Contrary  to  her  usual  disposition,  she 
showed  some  ill-temper  towards  Father  Drossel- 
meier,  who  kept  continually  laughing  at  her,  and 
asked  again  and  again  how  it  was  that  she  liked 
to  caress  such  an  ugly  little  fellow.  That  singu- 
lar comparison  with  Drosselmeier,  which  she 
made  when  her  eyes  first  fell  upon  Nutcracker, 
now  came  again  into  her  mind,  and  she  said  very 
seriously :  "  Who  knows,  dear  godfather,  if  you 
were  dressed  like  nry  sweet  Nutcracker,  and  had 
on  such  bright  little  boots — who  knows  but  you 
would  then  be  as  handsome  as  he  is  !"  Maria 
could  not  tell  why  her  parents  laughed  so  loudly 
at  this,  and  why  the  Counsellor's  face  turned  so 


NTTTCEACKEB   AND   MOUSE-KING*  25 

reel,  and  lie,  for  his  part,  did  not  laugh  half  so 
heartily  this  time  as  he  had  done  more  than  once 
before.  It  is  likely  there  was  some  particular 
reason  for  it.  + 


WONDERS  UPON  WONDERS. 

In  the  sitting-room  of  the  Doctor's  house, 
just  as  you  enter  the  room,  there  stands  on  the 
left  hand,  close  against  the  wall,  a  hi^h  °dass- 
case,  in  which  the  children  preserve  all  the  beau- 
tiful things  which  are  given  to  them  every  year. 
Louise  was  quite  a  little  girl  when  her  father 
had  the  case  made  by  a  skilful  joiner,  who  set 
in  it  such  large,  clear  panes  of  glass,  and  arranged 
all  the  parts  so  well  together,  that  every  thing 
looked  much  brighter  and  handsomer  when  on 
its  shelves  than  when  it  was  held  in  the  hands. 
On  the  upper  shelf,  which  Maria  and  Fred  were 
unable  to  reach,  stood  all  Godfather  Drossel- 
meier's  curious  machines.     Immediately  below 


26  NTJTCE ACKER   AND   MOUSE-KIXG. 

this  was  a  shelf  for  the  picture-books ;  the  two 
lower  shelves  Maria  and  Fred  filled  up  as  they 
pleased,  but  it  always  happened  that  Maria  used 
the  lower  one  as  a  house  for  her  dolls,  while 
Fred,  on  the  contrary,  cantoned  his  troops  in  the 
one  above. 

And  so  it  happened  to-day,  for  while  Fred 
set  his  hussars  in  order  above,  Maria,  having 
laid  Miss  Trutchen  aside,  and  having  installed 
the  new  and  sweetly  dressed  doll  in  her  best 
furnished  chamber  below,  had  invited  herself  to 
tea  with  her.  I  have  said  that  the  chamber  was 
well  furnished,  and  it  is  true  ;  here  was  a  nice 
chintz  sofa  and  several  tiny  chairs,  there  stood 
a  tea-table,  but  above  all,  there  was  a  clean,  white 
little  bed  for  her  doll  to  repose  upon.  All  these 
things  were  arranged  in  one  corner  of  the  glass 
case,  the  sides  of  which  were  hung  with  gay  pic- 
tures, and  it  will  readily  be  supposed,  that  in 
such  a  chamber  the  new  doll,  Miss  Clara,  must 
have  found  herself  very  comfortable. 


NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING. 


It  was  now  late  in  the  evening,  and  night, 

^  'OSS- 


incleecl,  was  close  at  hand,  and  Godfather  Di 


elmeier  had  long  since  gone  home,  yet  still  the 
children  could  not  leave  the  glass-case,  although 
their  mother  repeatedly  told  them  that  it  was 
high  time  to  go  to  bed.  "  It  is  true,"  cried  Fred 
at  last ;  "  the  poor  fellows  (meaning  his  hussars) 
would  like  to  get  a  little  rest,  and  as  long  as  I 
am  here,  not  one  of  them  will  dare  to  nod — I 
know  that."  With  these  words  he  went  up  to 
bed,  but  Maria  begged  very  hard,  "  Only  leave 
me  here  a  little  while,  clear  mother.  I  have  two 
or  three  things  to  attend  to,  and  when  they  are 
done  I  will  go  immediately  to  bed."  Maria  was 
a  very  good  and  sensible  child,  and  therefore 
her  mother  could  leave  her  alone  with  her  play- 
things without  anxiety.  But  for  fear  she  might 
become  so  much  interested  in  her  new  doll  and 
other  presents  as  to  forget  the  lights  which  burn- 
ed around  the  glass  case,  her  mother  blew  them 
all  out,  and  left  only  the  lamp  which  hung  clown 


28  NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING. 

from  the  ceiling  in  the  middle  of  the  chamber, 
and  which  diffused  a  soft,  pleasant  light.  "  Come 
in  soon,  dear  Maria,  or  you  will  not  be  up  in 
time  to-morrow  morning,"  called  her  mother,  as 
she  went  up  to  bed.  There  was  something  Ma- 
ria had  at  heart  to  do,  which  she  had  not  told 
her  mother,  though  she  knew  not  the  reason 
why ;  and  as  soon  as  she  found  herself  alone  she 
went  quickly  about  it.  She  still  carried  in  her 
arms  the  wounded  Nutcracker,  rolled  up  in  her 
pocket  handkerchief.  Now  she  laid  him  care- 
fully upon  the  table,  unrolled  the  handkerchief 
softly,  and  examined  his  wound.  Nutcracker 
was  very  pale,  but  still  he  smiled  so  kindly  and 
sorrowfully  that  it  went  straight  to  Maria's  heart. 
"  Ah  !  Nutcracker,  Nutcracker,  do  not  be  angry 
at  brother  Fred  "Because  he  hurt  you  so,  he  did 
not  mean  to  be  so  rough;  it  is  the  wild  soldier's 
life  with  his  hussars  that  has  made  him  a  little 
hard-hearted,  but  otherwise  he  is  a  good  fellow, 
I  can  assure  you.     Now  I  will  tend  you  very 


NUTCEACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING.  29 

carefully  until  you  are  well  and  merry  again ; 
as  to  fastening  in  your  teeth  and  setting  your 
shoulders,  that  Godfather  Drosselmeier  must  do ; 
he  understands  such  things." 

But  Maria  was  hardly  able  to  finish  the 
sentence,  for  as  she  mentioned  the  name  of 
Drosselmeier,  friend  Nutcracker  made  a  terrible 
wry  face,  and  there  darted  something  out  of  his 
eyes  like  green  sparkling  flashes.  Maria  was 
just  going  to  fall  into  a  dreadful  fright,  when 
behold,  it  was  the  sad  smiling  face  of  the  hon- 
est Nutcracker  again,  which  she  saw  before  her, 
and  she  knew  now  that  it  must  be  the  glare  of 
the  lamp,  which,  stirred  by  the  draught,  had 
flared  up,  and  distorted  Nutcracker's  features  so 
strangely.  "  Am  I  not  a  foolish  girl,"  she  said, 
"  to  be  so  easily  frightened,  and  to  think  that  a 
wooden  puppet  could  make  faces  at  me  ?  But  I 
love  Nutcracker  too  well,  because  he  is  so  droll 
and  so  good  tempered;  therefore  he  shall  be 
taken  good  care  of  as  he  deserves."     With  this 


30  NUTCEACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING. 

Maria  took  friend  Nutcracker  in  lier  arms, 
walked  to  the  glass  case,  stooped  down,  and  said 
to  her  new  doll,  "  Pray,  Miss  Clara,  be  so  good 
as  to  give  up  your  bed  to  the  sick  and  wounded 
Nutcracker,  and  make  out  as  well  as  you  can 
with  the  sofa,  Remember  that  you  are  well  and 
hearty,  or  you  would  not  have  such  fat  red 
cheeks,  and  very  few  little  dolls  have  such  nice 
sofas." 

Miss  Clara,  in  her  gay  Christmas  attire, 
looked  very  grand  and  haughty,  and  would  not 
even  say  "  Muck.1'  "  But  why  should  I  stand 
upon  ceremony  V  said  Maria,  and  she  took  out 
the  bed,  laid  little  Nutcracker  down  upon  it 
softly,  and  gently  rolled  a  nice  ribbon  which  she 
wore  around  her  waist,  about  his  poor  shoulders, 
and  then  drew  the  bedclothes  over  him  snugly, 
so  that  there  was  nothing  to  be  seen  of  him  be- 
low  the  nose.  "  He  shan't  stay  with  the  naughty 
Clara,"  she  said,  and  raised  the  bed  with  Nut- 
cracker in  it  to  the  shelf  above,  and  placed  it 


NUTCEACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING.  31 

close  by  the  pretty  village,  where  Fred's  hussars 
were  quartered.  She  locked  the  case,  and  was 
about  to  go  up  to  bed,  when — listen  children — 
when  softly,  softly  it  began  to  rustle,  and  to 
whisper,  and  to  rattle  round  and  round,  under 
the  hearth,  behind  the  chairs,  behind  the  cup- 
boards and  glass  case.  The  great  clock  whir — 
red  louder  and  louder,  but  it  could  not  strike. 
Maria  turned  towards  it,  and  there  the  large 
gilt  owl  that  sat  on  the  top,  had  dropped  down 
its  wings,  so  that  they  covered  the  whole  face, 
and  it  stretched  out  its  ugly  head  with  the 
short  crooked  beak,  and  looked  just  like  a  cat. 
And  the  clock  whirred  louder  in  plain  words. 
"  Dick — ry,  dick — ry,  clock — whirr,  softly  clock, 
Mouse-King  has  a  fine  ear — prr — prr — pum — ■ 
purn — the  old  song  let  him  hear — prr — prr — 
puin — pum — or  he  might— run  away  in  a  fright 
— now  clock  strike  softly  and  light."  And  pum 
— pum,  it  went  with  a  dull  deadened  sound 
twelve   times.     Maria   besran   now   to   tremble 


32  NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING. 

with,  fear,  and  she  was  upon  the  point  of  run- 
ning out  of  the  room  in  terror,  when  she  "beheld 
Godfather  Drosselnder,  who  sat  in  the  owl's 
place  on  the  top  of  the  clock,  and  had  hung 
down  the  skirts  of  his  brown  coat  just  like 
wings.  But  she  took  courage,  and  cried  out 
loudly,  with  sobs,  "  Godfather  Drosselmeier, 
Godfather  Drosselmeier,  what  are  you  doing  up 
there?  Come  down,  and  do  not  frighten  me 
so,  you  naughty  Godfather  Drosselmeier  !" 

Just  then  a  wild  squeaking  and  whimpering 
broke  out  on  all  sides,  and  then  there  was  a 
running,  trotting  and  galloping  behind  the  walls, 
as  if  a  thousand  little  feet  were  in  motion,  and 
a  thousand  little  lights  flashed  out  of  the  crev- 
ices  in  the  floor.  But  they  were  not  lights — no 
— they  were  sparkling  little  eyes,  and  Maria  per- 
ceived that  mice  were  all  around,  peeping  out 
and  working  their  way  into  the  room.  Pres- 
ently it  went  trot — trot — ho}3 — hop  about  the 
chamber,  and  more  and  more  mice,  in  greater  or 


NUTCEACKEE   AND    MOUSE-KING.  33 

smaller  parties  galloped  across,  aud  at  last 
placed  themselves  in  line  and  column,  just  as 
Fred  was  accustomed  to  place  his  soldiers  when 
they  went  to  battle.  This  Maria  thought  was 
very  droll,  and  as  she  had  not  that  aversion  to 
mice  which  most  children  have,  her  terror  was 
gradually  leaving  her,  when  all  at  once  there 
arose  a  squeaking  so  terrible  and  piercing,  that 
it  seemed  as  if  ice-cold  water  was  poured  down 
her  back.     Ah,  what  now  did  she  see  ! 

I  know,  my  worthy  reader  Frederic,  that  thy 
heart,  like  that  of  the  wise  and  brave  soldier 
Frederic  Stahlbaum,  sits  in  the  right  place,  but 
if  thou  hadst  seen  what  Maria  now  beheld,  thou 
wouldst  certainly  have  run  away ;  yes,  I  believe 
that  thou  wouldst  have  jumped  as  quickly  as 
possible  into  bed,  and  then  have  drawn  the  cov- 
ering over  thine  ears  much  farther  than  was 
necessary  to  keep  thee  warm.  Alas  !  poor  Maria 
could  not  do  that  now,  for — listen  children — 
close  before  her  feet,  there  burst  out  sand  and 
% 


34  NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING. 

lime  and  crumbled  wall  stones,  as  if  thrown  up 
by  some  subterranean  force,  and  seven  mice- 
heads  with  seven  sparkling  crowns  rose  out  of 
the  floor,  sqeaking  and  squealing  terribly. 
Presently  the  mouse's  body  to  which  these  seven 
heads  belonged,  worked  its  way  out,  and  the 
great  mouse  crowned  with  the  seven  diadems, 
squeaking  loudly,  huzzaed  in  full  chorus,  as  he 
advanced  to  meet  his  army,  which  at  once  set 
itself  in  motion,  and  hott — hott — trot — trot  it 
went — alas,  straight  towards  the  glass  case — 
straight  towards  poor  Maria  who  stood  close  be- 
fore it ! 

Her  heart  had  before  beat  so  terribly  from 
anxiety  and  fear,  that  she  thought  it  would  leap 
out  of  her  bosom,  and  then  she  knew  she  must 
die ;  but  now  it  seemed  as  if  the  blood  stood 
still  in  her  veins.  Half  fainting,  she  tottered 
backward,  when  clatter — clatter — rattle — rattle 
it  went — and  a  glass  pane  which  she  had  struck 
with  her  elbow  fell  in  pieces  at  her  feet.     She 


NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING.  35 

felt  at  the  moment  a  sharp  pain  in  her  left  arm, 
but  her  heart  all  at  once  became  much  lighter, 
she  heard  no  more  squeaking  and  squealing,  all 
had  become  still,  and  although  she  did  not  dare 
to  look,  yet  she  believed  that  the  mice,  fright- 
ened by  the  clatter  of  the  broken  glass,  had  re- 
treated into  their  holes.  But  what  was  that 
again !  Close  behind  her  in  the  glass  case  a 
strange  bustling  and  rustling  began,  and  little 
fine  voices  were  heard.  "  Up,  up,  awake — arms 
take — awake — to  the  fight — this  night — up,  up 
— to  the  n>kt."  And  all  the  while  something 
rang  out  clear  and  sweet  like  little  bells.  "  Ah, 
that  is  my  clear  musical  clock  !"  exclaimed  Maria 
joyfully,  and  turned  quickly  to  look. 

She  then  saw  how  it  flashed  and  lightened 
strangely  in  the  glass  case,  and  there  was  a  great 
stir  and  bustle  upon  the  shelves.  Many  little 
figures  crossed  up  and  down  by  each  other,  and 
worked  and  stretched  out  their  arms  as  if  they 
were    making   ready.     And    now,    Nutcracker 


36  NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING. 

raised  himself  all  of  a  sudden,  threw  the  bed- 
clothes clear  off,  and  leaped  with  both  feet  at 
once  out  of  bed,  crying  aloud,  "  Crack — crack 
— crack — stupid  pack — drive  mouse  back — stu- 
pid pack — crack — crack — mouse — back — crick 
— crack — stupid  pack."  With  these  words  he 
drew  his  little  sword,  flourished  it  in  the  air,  and 
exclaimed,  "  My  loving  vassals,  friends  and 
brothers,  will  you  stand  by  me  in  the  hard 
fight?"  Straightway  three  Scaramouches,  a 
Harlequin,  four  Chimney-sweepers,  two  Guitar- 
players  and  a  drummer  cried  out,  "  Yes,  my  lord, 
we  will  follow  you  with  fidelity  and  courage — 
we  will  march  with  you  to  battle — to  victory  or 
death,"  and  then  rushed  after  the  fiery  Nutcrack- 
er, who  ventured  the  dangerous  leap  down  from 
the  upper  shelf.  Ah,  it  was  easy  enough  for  them 
to  perform  this  feat,  for  beside  the  fine  garments 
of  thick  cloth  and  silk  which  they  wore,  the  in- 
side of  their  bodies  were  made  of  cotton  and 
tow,  so  that  they  came  down  plump,  like  bags  of 


NUTCBACKEK   AND   MOUSE-KING.  37 

wool.  But  poor  Nutcracker  had  certainly  "bro- 
ken Ms  arms  or  his  legs,  for  remember,  it  was 
almost  two  feet  from  the  shelf  where  he  stood 
to  the  floor,  and  his  body  was  as  brittle  as  if  it 
had  been  cut  out  of  Linden  wood.  Yes,  Nut- 
cracker would  certainly  have  broken  his  arms  or 
his  legs,  if,  at  the  moment  when  he  leaped,  Miss 
Clara  had  not  sprung  quickly  from  the  sofa,  and 
caught  the  hero  with  his  drawn  sword  in  her 
soft  arms.  "  Ah,  thou  dear,  good  Clara,"  sobbed 
Maria,  "  how  I  have  wronged  thee  !  Thou  didst 
certainly  resign  thy  bed  willingly  to  little  Nut- 
cracker." 

But  Miss  Clara  now  spoke,  as  she  softly 
pressed  the  young  hero  to  her  silken  bosom. 
u  You  will  not,  oh,  my  lord !  sick  and  wounded 
as  you  are,  share  the  dangers  of  the  fight.  See 
how  your  brave  vassals  assemble*  themselves, 
eager  for  the  affray,  and  certain  of  conquest. 
Scaramouch,  Harlequin,  Chimney-sweepers,  Guit- 
ar-players, Drummer,  are  all  ready  drawn  up  be- 


38  isruTCE acker  a:nt>  mouse-kes-g. 

low,  and  the  china  figures  on  the  shelf  stir  and 
move  strangely !  Will  yon  not,  oh,  my  lord ! 
repose  upon  the  sofa,  or  from  my  arms  look 
down  upon  your  victory  ?  "  Thus  spoke  Clara, 
but  Nutcracker  demeaned  himself  very  ungra- 
ciously, for  he  kicked  and  struggled  so  violently 
with  his  legs,  that  Clara  was  obliged  to  set  him 
quickly  down  upon  the  floor.  He  then,  how- 
ever, dropped  gracefully  upon  one  knee,  and  said, 
"  Fair  lady,  the  recollection  of  thy  favor  and  con- 
descension will  go  with  me  into  the  battle  and 
the  strife." 

Clara  then  stooped  so  low  that  she  could 
take  him  by  the  arm,  raised  him  gently  from  his 
knees,  took  off  her  bespangled  girdle,  and  was 
about  to  throw  it  across  his  neck,  but  little  Nut- 
cracker stepped  two  paces  backward,  laid  his 
hand  upon  his  breast,  and  said  very  earnestly, 
"  Not  so,  fair  lady,  lavish  not  thy  favors  thus 
irpon  me,  for — "  he  stopped,  sighed  heavily,  tore 
off  the  ribbon  which  Maria  had  bound  about  his 


NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING.  39 

shoulders,  pressed  it  to  his  lips,  hung  it  across 
him  like  a  scarf,  and  then  boldly  flourishing  his 
"bright  little  blade,  leaped  like  a  bird  over  the 
edge  of  the  glass  case  upon  the  floor.  You  un- 
derstand my  kind  and  good  readers  and  listeners, 
that  Nutcracker,  even  before  he  had  thus  come 
to  life,  had  felt  very  sensibly  the  kindness  and 
love  which  Maria  had  shown  towards  him,  and 
it  was  because  he  had  become  so  partial  to  her, 
that  he  would  not  receive  and  wear  the  girdle 
of  Miss  Clara,  although  it  shone  and  sparkled  so 
brightly.  The  true  and  faithful  Nutcracker  pre- 
ferred to  wear  Maria's  simple  ribbon.  But  what 
will  now  happen  i  As  soon  as  Nutcracker  had 
leaped  out,  the  squeaking  and  whistling  was 
heard  again.  Ah,  it  is  under  the  large  table, 
that  the  hateful  mice  have  concealed  their  count- 
less bands,  and  high  above  them  all  towers  the 
dreadful  mouse  with  seven  heads  !  What  will 
now  happen ! 


40  OTTCKACKEE   AND   MOUSE-KING. 


THE  BATTLE. 

"  Beat  the  march,  true  vassal  Drummer  1" 
screamed  Nutcracker  very  loudly,  and  immedi- 
ately the  drummer  began  to  rattle  and  to  roll 
upon  his  drum  so  skilfully,  that  the  windows 
of  the  glass  case  trembled  and  hummed  again. 
Now  it  rustled  and  clattered  therein,  and  Maria 
perceived  that  the  covers  of  the  little  boxes  in 
which  Fred's  army  were  quartered,  were  burst- 
ing open,  and  now  the  soldiers  leaped  out,  and 
then  down  again  upon  the  lowest  shelf,  where 
they  drew  up  in  fine  array.  Nutcracker  ran  up 
and  down,  speaking  inspiring  words  to  the  troops 
— "  Let  no  dog  of  a  trumpeter  blow  or  stir  !"  he 
cried  angrily,  for  he  was  afraid  he  should  not  be 
heard,  and  then  turned  quickly  to  Harlequin, 
who  had  grown  a  little  pale,  and  chattered  with 
his  long  chin.  "  General,"  he  said,  earnestly,  "  I 
know  your  courage  and  your  experience  ;  there 


NUTCEACKES  AND   MOUSE-KING.  41 

is  need  now  for  a  quick  eye,  and  skill  to  seize 
the  proper  moment.  I  intrust  to  your  command 
all  the  cavalry  and  artillery.  You  do  not  need 
a  horse,  for  you  have  very  long  legs,  and  can 
gallop  yourself  tolerably  well.  I  look  to  see 
you  do  your  duty."  Thereupon  Harlequin  put 
his  long,  thin  fingers  to  his  mouth,;  and  crowed 
so  piercingly,  that  it  sounded  as  if  a  hundred 
shrill  trumpets  were  blown  merrily. 

Then  it  stirred  again  in  .the  glass  case — a 
neighing,  and  a  whinnying,  and  a  stamping  were 
heard,  and  see !  Fred's  cuirassiers  and  dragoons, 
but  above  all,  his  new  splendid  hussars  marched 
out,  and  halted  close  by  the  case.  Regiment 
after  regiment  now  defiled  before  Nutcracker, 
with  fiying  colors  and  warlike  music,  and  ranged 
themselves  in  long  rows  across  the  floor  of  the 
chamber.  Before  them  went  Fred's  cannon  rat- 
tling along,  surrounded  by  the  cannoniers,  and 
soon  bom — bom  it  went,  and  Maria  could  see 
how  the  mice  suffered  by  the  fire,  how  the  sugar- 


42  NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING. 

plums  plunged  into  their  dark,  heavy  mass,  cov- 
ering them  with  white  powder,  and  throwing 
them  more  than  once  into  shameful  disorder. 
But  the  greatest  damage  was  done  them  by  a 
heavy  battery  that  was  mounted  upon  mamma's 
footstool,  which — pum,  puni — kept  up  a  steady 
fire  of  caraway  seeds  against  the  enemy,  by 
which  a  great  many  of  them  fell.  The  mice, 
notwithstanding,  came  nearer  and  nearer,  and  at 
last  mastered  some  of  the  cannon,  but  then  it 
went  prr — prr — and  Maria  could  scarcely  see 
what  now  happened  for  the  smoke  and  dust. 
This  however  was  certain,  that  each  corps  fought 
with  the  greatest  animosity,  and  the  victory  was 
for  a  long  time  doubtful.  The  mice  kept  de- 
ploying more  and  more  forces,  and  the  little  sil- 
ver shot,  which  they  fired  very  skilfully,  struck 
now  even  into  the  glass  case.  Clara  and  Trut- 
chen  ran  around  in  despair.  "  Must  I  die  in  the 
blossom  of  youth  V  said  Clara.  "  Have  I  so  well 
preserved  myself  for  this,  to  perish  here  in  these 


NÜTCEACKEB  AND   MOUSE-KING.  43 

walls  ?"  cried  Trutchen.  Then  they  fell  about 
each,  other's  necks,  and  screamed  so  terribly, 
that  they  could  be  heard  above  the  mad  tumult 
of  the  battle. 

Of  the  scene  that  now  presented  itself  you 
can  have  no  idea,  good  reader.  It  went  prr — 
prr — puff — piff — clitter — clatter — bom,  burum 
— bom,  burum — bom — in  the  wildest  confusion, 
while  the  Mouse-King  and  mice  squeaked  and 
screamed,  and  now  and  then  the  mighty  voice 
of  Nutcracker  was  heard,  as  he  gave  the  neces- 
sary orders,  and  he  was  seen  striding  along 
through  the  battalions  in  the  hottest  of  the  fire. 
Harlequin  had  made  some  splendid  charges  with 
his  cavalry,  and  covered  himself  with  honor,  but 
Fred's  hussars  were  battered  by  the  enemy's  ar- 
tillery, with  odious,  offensive  balls,  which  made 
dreadful  spots  in  their  red  jackets,  for  which 
reason  they  would  not  move  forward.  Harle- 
quin ordered  them  to  draw  off  to  the  left,  and 
in  the  enthusiasm  of  command  headed  the  move- 


44  NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING. 

nient  himself,  and  the  cuirassiers  and  dragoons 
followed;  that  is,  they  all  drew  off  to  the  left, 
and  galloped  home.  By  this  step  the  battery 
upon  the  footstool  was  exposed  to  great  danger, 
and  it  was  not  long  before  a  strong  body  of  very 
ugly  mice  pushed  on  with  such  determined  bra- 
very, that  the  footstool,  cannons,  cannoniers  and 
all  were  overthrown  by  their  headlong  charge. 
Nutcracker  seemed  a  little  disturbed  at  this,  and 
gave  orders  that  the  right  wing  should  make  a 
retreating  movement.  You  know  very  well,  oh 
my  military  reader  Frederic,  that  to  make  such 
a  movement  is  almost  the  same  thing  as  to  run 
away,  and  you  are  now  grieving  with  me  at  the 
disaster  which  impends  over  the  army  of  Maria's 
darling  Nutcracker. 

But  turn  your  eyes  from  this  scene,  and  view 
the  left  wing,  where  all  is  still  in  good  order, 
and  where  there  is  yet  great  hope,  both  for  the 
general  and  the  army.  During  the  hottest  of 
the  %ht,  large  masses  of  mice  cavalry  had  de- 


NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING.  45 

bouched  softly  from  under  the  settee,  and  amid 
loud  and  hideous  squeaking  had  thrown  them- 
selves with  fury  upon  the  left  wing ;  but  what 
an  obstinate  resistance  did  they  meet  with  there ! 
Slowly,  as  the  difficult  nature  of  the  ground  re- 
quired— for  the  edge  of  the  glass  case  had  to  be 
traversed — the  china  figures  had  advanced, 
headed  by  two  Chinese  emperors,  and  formed 
themselves  into  a  hollow  square.  These  brave, 
motley,  but  noble  troops,  which  were  composed  of 
Gardeners,  Tyrolese,  Bonzes,  Friseurs,  Merry-an- 
drews,  Cupids,  Lions,  Tigers,  Peacocks,  and  Apes, 
fought  with  coolness,  courage,  and  determination. 
By  their  Spartan  bravery  this  battalion  of  picked 
men  would  have  wrested  the  victory  from  the 
foe,  had  not  a  bold  major  rushed  madly  from  the 
enemy's  ranks,  and  bitten  off  the  head  of  one 
of  the  Chinese  emperors,  who  in  falling  dashed 
to  the  ground  two  Bonzes  and  a  Cupid.  Through 
this  gap  the  enemy  penetrated  into  the  square, 
and  in  a  few  moments  the  whole  battalion  was 


46  NUTCKACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING. 

torn  to  pieces.  Their  brave  resistance,  therefore, 
was  of  no  avail  to  Nutcracker's  army,  which, 
once  having  begun  to  retreat,  retired  farther  and 
farther,  and  at  every  step  with  diminished  num- 
bers, until  the  unfortunate  Nutcracker  halted 
with  a  little  band  close  before  the  glass  case. 
"  Let  the  reserve  advance !  Harlequin — Scara- 
mouch— Drummer — where  are  you  J" 

Thus  cried  Nutcracker,  in  hopes  of  new 
troops  which  should  deploy  out  of  the  glass- 
case.  And  there  actually  came  forth  a  few 
brown  men  and  women,  made  of  sweet  thorn, 
with  golden  faces,  and  caps,  and  helmets,  but 
they  fought  around  so  awkwardly,  that  they  did 
not  hit  one  of  the  enemy,  and  at  last  knocked 
the  cap  off  their  own  general's  head.  The  ene- 
mies' chasseurs,  too,  bit  off  their  legs  before 
long,  so  that  they  tumbled  over,  and  carried 
with  them  to  the  ground  some  of  Nutcracker's 
best  officers.  Nutcracker,  now  completely  sur- 
rounded by  the  foe,  was  in  the  greatest  peril. 


NUTCE ACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING-.  47 

He  tried  to  leap  over  the  edge,  into  the  glass 
case,  but  found  his  legs  too  short.  Clara  and 
Trutchen  lay  each  in  a  deep  swoon, — they  could 
not  help  him — hussars,  dragoons  sprang  merrily 
by  him  into  safe  quarters,  and  in  wild  despair, 
he  cried,  "  A  horse — a  horse — a  kingdom  for  a 
horse  !"  At  this  moment  two  of  the  enemies' 
tirailleurs  seized  him  by  his  wooden  mantle,  and 
the  Mouse-King,  squeaking  from  his  seven 
throats,  leaped  in  triumph  towards  him.  Maria 
could  no  longer  control  herself.  "  Oh,  my  poor 
Nutcracker  I"  she  cried,  sobbing,  and  without 
being  exactly  conscious  of  what  she  did,  grasped 
her  left  shoe,  and  threw  it  with  all  her  strength 
into  the  thickest  of  the  mice,  straight  at  their 
kingf.  In  an  instant,  all  seemed  scattered  and 
dispersed,  but  Maria  felt  in  her  left  arm  a  still 
sharper  pain  than  before,  and  sank  in  a  swoon 
to  the  floor. 


48  NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING. 


THE  SICKNESS. 

When  Maria  woke  out  of  her  deep  and 
deathlike  slumber,  she  found  herself  lying  in  her 
own  bed,  with  the  sun  shining  bright  and  spark- 
ling through  the  ice-covered  windows  into  the 
chamber.  Close  beside  her  sat  a  stranger,  whom 
she  soon  recognized,  however,  as  the  Surgeon 
Wendelstern.  He  said  softly,  "  She  is  awake !" 
Her  mother  then  came  to  the  bedside,  and 
gazed  upon  her  with  anxious  and  inquiring 
looks.  "  Ah,  dear  mother,"  lisped  little  Maria, 
"  are  all  the  hateful  mice  gone,  and  is  the  good 
Nutcracker  safe  V 

"  Do  not  talk  such  foolish  stuff,"  replied  her 
mother  ;  "  what  have  the  mice  to  do  with  Nut- 
cracker ?  You  naughty  child,  you  have  caused 
us  a  great  deal  of  anxiety.  But  so  it  always  is, 
when  children  are  disobedient  and  do  not  mind 


NUTCEACKEE   AND    MOUSE  -KING.  49 

their  parents.  You  played  last  night  with  your 
dolls  until  it  was  very  late.  You  became  sleepy, 
probably,  and  a  stray  mouse  may  have  jumped 
out  and  frightened  you ;  at  all  events,  you  broke 
a  pane  of  glass  with  your  elbow,  and  cut  your 
arm  so  severely,  that  neighbor  Wendelstern, 
who  has  just  taken  the  piece  of  glass  out  of 
the  wound,  declares  that  it  came  very  near  cut- 
ting a  vein,  in  which  case  you  might  have  had  a 
stiff  arm  all  your  life,  or  perhaps  have  bled  to 
death.  It  was  fortunate  that  I  woke  about 
midnight,  and  not  finding  you  in  your  bed,  got 
up  and  went  into  the  sitting-room.  There  you 
lay  in  a  swoon  upon  the  floor,  close  hy  the  glass 
case,  the  blood  flowing  in  a  stream.  I  almost 
fainted  away  myself  at  the  sight.  There  you 
lay,  and  scattered  around,  were  many  of  Fred- 
eric's leaden  soldiers,  broken  China  figures,  gin- 
gerbread men  and  women  and  other  playthings, 
and  not  far  off  your  left  shoe." 

"  Ah !  dear  mother,  dear  mother,"  exclaimed 
4 


50  NUTCRACKER   AND   MOÜSE-KING-. 

Maria,  interrupting  her,  "those  were  the  traces 
of  that  dreadful  battle  between  the  puppets  and 
the  mice,  and  what  frightened  me  so  was  the 
danger  of  poor  Nutcracker,  when  the  mice  were 
going  to  take  him  prisoner.  Then  I  threw  my 
shoe  at  the  mice,  and  after  that  I  don't  know 
what  happened." 

Surgeon  Wendelstern  here  made  a  sign  to 
the  mother,  and  she  said  very  softly  to  Maria, 
"  Well,  never  mind  about  it,  my  dear  child,  the 
mice  are  all  gone,  and  little  Nutcracker  stands 
safe  and  sound  in  the  glass  case."  Doctor  Stahl- 
bäum  now  entered  the  chamber,  and  spoke  for 
a  while  with  Surgeon  Wendelstern,  then  he  felt 
Maria's  pulse,  and  she  could  hear  very  plainly 
that  he  said  something  about  a  fever.  She  was 
obliged  to  remain  in  bed  and  take  physic,  and 
so  it  continued  for  some  days,  although  except 
a  slight  pain  in  her  arm,  she  felt  quite  well  and 
comfortable.  She  knew  little  Nutcracker  had 
escaped  safe  from  the  battle,  and  it  seemed  to 


NUTCRACKER   AKD   MOUSE-KING-.  51 

her  that  she  sometimes  heard  his  voice  quite 
plainly,  as  if  in  a  dream,  saying  mournfully, 
"  Maria,  dearest  lady,  what  thanks  do  I  not  owe 
you  !  but  you  can  do  still  more  for  me."  Maria 
tried  to  think  what  it  could  be,  but  in  vain ; 
nothing  occurred  to  her.  She  could  not  play 
very  well  on  account  of  the  wound  in  her  arm, 
and  when  she  tried  to  read  or  look  at  her  pic- 
ture books,  a  strange  glare  came  across  her  eyes, 
so  that  she  was  obliged  to  desist.  The  time, 
during  the  day,  always  seemed  very  long  to 
her,  and  she  waited  impatiently  for  evening,  as 
her  mother  then  usually  seated  herself  by  her 
bedside,  and  read  or  related  some  pretty  story 
to  her.  * 

One  evening  she  had  just  finished  the  won- 
derful history  of  *prince  Fackardin,  when  the 
door  opened,  and  Godfather  Drosselmeier  en- 
tered, saying,  "  I  must  see  now  for  myself  how 
it  goes  with  the  sick  and  wounded  Maria."  As 
soon  as  Maria  saw  Godfather  Drosselmeier  in  his 


52  1STXJTCB ACKER   AND   MOUSE-KIjStG. 

brown  coat,  the  image  of  that  night  in  which 
Nutcracker  lost  the  battle  against  the  mice,  re- 
turned vividly  to  her  mind,  and  she  cried  out 
involuntarily,  "  Oh  Godfather  Drosselmeier,  you 
have  been  very  naughty ;  I  saw  you  as  you  sat 
upon  the  clock,  and  covered  it  with  your  wings, 
so  that  it  should  not  strike  loud,  to  scare  away 
the  mice.  I  heard  how  you  called  out  to  the 
Mouse-King.  Why  did  you  not  come  to  help 
us ;  me,  and  the  poor  Nutcracker  ?  It  is  all 
your  fault,  naughty  Godfather  Drosselmeier,  that 
I  must  he  here  sick  in  bed."  Her  mother  was 
quite  frightened  at  this,  and  said,  "  What  is  the 
matter  with  you,  dear  Maria  ?" 

But  Godfather  Drosselmeier  •  made  very 
strange  faces,  and  said  in  a  grating,  monotonous 
tone,  "  Pendulum  must  whirr — whirr — whirr — 
this  way — that  way — clock  will  strike — tired  of 
ticking  —  all  the  day — softly  whirr — whirr — 
whirr— strike  kling — klang — strike  klang — kling 
— bing  and  bang  and  bang  and  bing — 'twill  scare 


NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KINGr.  53 

away  the  Mouse-King.  Then  Owl  in  swift  flight 
comes  at  dead  of  nisrht.  Pendulum  must  whirr 
— whirr — Clock  will  strike  kling — klan^ — this 
way — that  way — tired  of  ticking  all  the  day — 
bing  —  bang  —  and  Mouse-King  scare  away — 
whirr — whirr — prr — prr."  Maria  stared  at  God- 
father Drosselmeier,  for  he  did  not  look  at  all  as 
he  usually  did,  but  appeared  much  uglier,  and  he 
moved  his  right  arm  backward  and  forward, 
like  a  puppet  pulled  by  wires.  She  would  have 
been  afraid  of  him,  if  her  mother  had  not  been 
present,  and  if  Fred  had  not  slipped  in,  in  the 
meanwhile,  and  interrupted  him  with  loud  laugh- 
ter. "  Ha,  ha !  Godfather  Drosselmeier,"  cried 
Fred,  "  you  are  to-day  too  droll  again — you  act 
just  like  my  Harlequin  that  I  threw  into  the  lum- 
ber room  long  ago."  But  their  mother  was  very 
serious,  and  said,  "  Dear  Counsellor,  this  is  very 
strange  sport — what  do  you  really  mean  by  it  V 
"  Gracious  me,"  replied  Drosselmeier,  laugh- 
ing, "  have  you  forgotten  then  my  pretty  watch- 


54  NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING. 

maker's  song  ?  I  always  sing  it  to  suck  patients 
as  Maria."  With  this  he  drew  his  chair  close  to 
her  bed,  and  said,  "  Do  not  be  angry  that  I  did 
not  pick  out  the  Mouse-King's  fourteen  eyes — 
that  could  not  be — but  instead,  I  have  in  store 
for  you  a  very  agreeable  surprise."  The  Coun- 
sellor with  these  words  put  his  hand  in  his  pocket, 
drew  something  out  slowly,  and  behold  it  was — 
Nutcracker  with  his  lost  teeth  nicely  fastened  in, 
and  his  lame  chin  well  set  and  sound.  Maria 
cried  aloud  with  joy,  while  her  mother  smiled,  and 
said,  "  You  see  now,  Maria,  that  Godfather  Dross- 
elmeier  meant  well  by  your  little  Nutcracker." 

"  But  still  you  must  confess,"  Maria,  said  the 
Counsellor,  "  that  Nutcracker's  figure  is  none  of 
the  finest,  neither  can  his  face  be  called  exactly 
handsome.  How  this  ugliness  came  to  be  hered- 
itary  in  the  family,  I  will  now  relate  to  you,  if 
you  will  listen.  Or  perhaps  you  know  already 
the  story  of  the  Princess  Pirlipat  and  the  Lady 
Mouserings,  and  the  skilful,  Watchmaker  V 


NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING.  55 

"  Look  Iiere,  Godfather  Drosselmeier,"  inter- 
rupted Fred,  "  Nutcracker's  teetli  you  have  fast- 
ened in  very  well,  and  his  chin  is  no  longer  lame 
and  rickety,  but  why  has  lie  no  sword  ?  why  have 
you  not  put  on  liis  sword  ?" 

"  Ak,"  replied  the  Counsellor,  angrily,  "  you 
must  always  meddle  and  make,  you  rogue. 
What  is  Nutcracker's  sword  to  me?  I  have 
cured  his  wounds,  and  he  may  find  a  sword  for 
himself  as  he  can." 

"  That's  true,"  said  Fred,  "  he  is  a  brave  fel- 
low, and  will  know  how  to  get  one." 

"  Tell  me  then,  Maria,"  continued  the  Coun- 
sellor, "  have  you  heard  the  story  of  the  Princess 
Pirlipat  r 

"  I  hope,  dear  Counsellor,"  said  the  mother, 
"  that  your  story  will  not  be  frightful,  as  those 
that  you  narrate  usually  are." 

"  By  no  means,  dearest  madam,"  replied 
Drosselmeier,  "  on  the  contrary,  what  I  have  this 
time  the  honor  to  relate  is  droll  and  merry." 


56  NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING. 

"  Begin,  begin  then,  dear  Godfather !"  cried 
the  children,  and  the  Counsellor  began  as 
follows. 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  HARD  NUT. 

Pielepat's  mother  was  the  wife  of  a  king,  and 
therefore  a  queen,  and  Pirlipat  straightway  at 
the  moment  of  her  birth  a  true  princess.  The 
king  was  beside  himself  with  joy,  when  he  saw 
his  beautiful  daughter,  as  she  lay  in  the  cradle. 
He  shouted  aloud,  danced,  jumped  about  irpon 
one  leg,  and  cried  again  and  again,  "  Ha !  ha  ! 
was  there  ever  any  thing  seen  more  beautiful 
than  my  little  Pirlipat?"  Thereupon  all  the 
ministers,  generals,  presidents  and  staff  officers 
jumped  about  upon  one  leg  like  the  king,  and 
cried  aloud,  "  No,  never !"  And  it  was  so,  in 
truth,  for  as  long  as  the  world  has  been  stand- 
ing, a  lovelier  child  was  never  born,  than  this 


-JOCfLY/V.  SC 
STORY   OF    THE    "HARD   NUT. 


NUTCRACKER   AND    MOUSE-KING.  57 

very  Princess  Pirlipat.  Her  little  face  seemed 
made  of  lilies  and  roses,  delicate  white  and  red ; 
her  eyes  were  of  living  sparkling  azure,  and  it 
was  charming  to  see  how  her  little  locks  curled 
in  bright  golden  ringlets.  Besides  this,  Pirlipat 
had  brought  into  the  world  two  rows  of  little 
pearly  teeth,  with  which  two  hours  after  her 
birth,  she  bit  the  high  chancellor's  finger,  as  he 
was  examining  her  features  too  closely,  so  that 
he  screamed  out,  "  Oh,  Gemini !"  Others  assert 
that  he  screamed  out,  "  Oh,  Crickee  1"  but  on  this 
point  authorities  are  at  the  present  day  divided. 
Well,  little  Pirlipat  bit  the  high  chancellor's 
finger,  and  the  enraptured  land  knew  now  that 
some  sense  dwelt  in  Pirlipat's  beautiful  body. 
As  has  been  said,  all  were  delighted.  The  queen 
alone  was  very  anxious  and  uneasy,  and  no  one 
knew  wherefore,  but  every  body  remarked  with 
surprise,  the  care  with  which  she  watched  Pirli- 
pat's cradle.  Besides  that  the  doors  were  guard- 
ed by  soldiers,  and  not  counting  the  two  nurses, 


58  NUTCRACKER   AND    310 USE-KING. 

who  always  remained  close  by  the  cradle,  six 
maids  night  after  night  sat  in  the  room  to 
watch.  But  what  seemed  very  foolish,  and  no 
one  could  understand  the  meaning  of  it,  was 
this ;  each  of  these  six  maids  must  have  a  cat 
upon  her  lap,  and  stroke  it  the  whole  night 
through,  and  thus  keep  it  continually  purring. 
It  is  impossible  that  you,  dear  children,  can 
guess  why  Pirlipat's  mother  made  all  these  ar- 
rangements, but  I  know,  and  will  straightway 
tell  you. 

It  happened  that  once  upon  a  time  many 
great  kings  and  fine  princes  were  assembled  at 
the  court  of  Pirlipat's  father,  on  which  occasion 
much  splendor  was  displayed,  the  theatres  were 
crowded,  balls  were  given,  and  tournaments  held 
almost  every  day.  The  king,  in  order  to  show 
plainly  that  he  was  in  no  want  of  gold  and  sil- 
ver, was  resolved  to  take  a  good  handful  out  of 
his  royal  treasury,  and  expend  it  in  a  suitable 
manner.     Therefore  as  soon  as  he  had  been  pri- 


NUTCRACKER   AND   HOUSE-KING.  59 

vately  informed  by  the  overseer  of  the  kitchen, 
that  the  court  astronomer  had  predicted  the 
right  time  for  killing,  he  ordered  a  great  feast 
of  sausages,  leaped  into  his  carriage,  and  went 
himself  to  invite  the  assembled  kings  and  princes 
to  take  a  little  soup  with  him,  in  order  to  enjoy 
the  agreeable  surprise  which  he  had  prepared 
for  them.  Upon  his  return,  he  said  very  affec- 
tionately to  the  queen,  "You  know,  my  dear, 
how  extremely  fond  I  am  of  sausages."  The 
queen  knew  at  once  what  he  meant  by  that, 
and  it  was  this,  that  she  should  take  upon  her- 
self, as  she  had  often  done  before,  the  useful  oc- 
cupation of  making  sausages.  The  lord  treasurer 
must  straightway  bring  to  the  kitchen  the  great 
golden  sausage  kettle,  and  the  silver  chopping 
knives  and  stew-pans.  A  large  fire  of  sandal 
wood  was  made,  the  queen  put  on  her  damask 
apron,  and  soon  the  sweet  smell  of  the  sausage 
meat  began  to  steam  up  out  of  the  kettle.  The 
agreeable  odor  penetrated  even   to  the   royal 


60  NUTCRACKER    AND    310 USE-KING. 

council  chamber,  and  the  king,  seized  with  a 
sudden  transport,  could  no  longer  restrain  him- 
self, "  With  your  permission,  my  lords,"  he 
cried,  and  leaped  up,  ran  as  fast  as  he  could  into 
the  kitchen,  embraced  the  queen,  stirred  a  little 
with  his  golden  sceptre  in  the  kettle,  and  then 
his  emotion  being  quieted,  returned  calmly  to 
the  council. 

The  important  moment  had  now  arrived 
when  the  fat  was  to  be  chopped  into  little 
pieces,  and  browned  gently  in  the  silver  stew- 
pans.  The  maids  of  honor  now  retired,  for  the 
queen,  out  of  true  devotion  and  reverence  for 
her  royal  spouse,  wished  to  perform  this  duty 
alone.  But  just  as  the  fat  began  to  fry,  a  small 
wimpering,  whispering  voice  was  heard,  "  Give 
me  a  little  of  the  fat,  sister — I  should  like  my 
part  of  the  feast — I  too  am  a  queen — give  me  a 
little  of  the  fat."  The  queen  knew  very  well 
that  it  was  Lady  Mouserings  who  said  this. 
Lady  Mouserings  had  lived  these  many  years  in 


NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING.  61 

the  king's  palace.  She  maintained  that  she  was 
related  to  the  royal  family,  and  that  she  was 
herself  a  queen  in  the  kingdom  of  Mousalia,  for 
which  reason  she  held  a  great  court  under  the 
hearth.  The  queen  was  a  kind  and  benevolent 
lady,  and  although  she  was  not  exactly  willing 
to  acknowledge  Lady  Mouserings  as  a  true 
queen  and  sister,  yet  she  was  very  ready  to 
allow  her  a  little  banquet  on  this  great  holiday. 
She  answered,  therefore,  "  Come  out,  then,'  Lady 
Mouserings,  you  are  welcome  to  a  little  of  the 
fat'"  Upon  this,  Lady  Mouserings  leaped  out 
very  quickly  and  merrily,  jumped  irpon  the 
hearth,  and  seized  with  her  dainty  little  paws, 
one  piece  of  fat  after  the  other  as  the  queen 
reached  it  to  her.  But  now,  all  the  cousins  and 
aunts  of  the  Lady  Mouserings  came  running  out, 
besides  her  seven  sons,  rude  and  forward  rogues, 
who  all  fell  at  once  upon  the  fat,  and  the  terri- 
fied queen  could  not  drive  them  away.  But  as 
good  fortune  would  have  it,  the  chief  maid  of 


62  NTTTCK  ACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING. 

honor  came  in  at  this  moment,  and  chased  away 
the  intruding  guests,  so  that  a  little  of  the  fat 
was  left.  The  king's  mathematician  being  sum- 
monecl,  demonstrated  very  clearly  that  there 
was  enough,  remaining  to  season  all  the  sau- 
sages,  if  distributed  with  the  nicest  judgment 
and  skill. 

Drums  and  trumpets  were  now  heard  with- 
out, and  all  the  invited  potentates  and  princes, 
some  on  white  palfreys,  some  in  crystal  carriages, 
came  in  splendid  apparel  to  the  sausage-feast.  The 
king  received  them  kindly  and  graciously,  and 
then,  adorned  with  crown  and  sceptre,  as  became 
the  monarch  of  the  land,  seated  himself  at  the 
head  of  the  table.  Already  in  the  first  course, 
that  of  the  sausage  balls,  it  was  observed  that 
he  grew  pale  and  paler;  raised  his  eyes  to 
heaven ;  gentle  sighs  escaped  from  his  bosom, 
and  he  seemed  to  undergo  great  inward  suffer- 
ing.  But  in  the  second  course,  which  consisted 
of  the  long  sausages,  he   sank  back  upon  his 


mTTCKACKER   AM)   MOUSE-KETO.  6ö 

throne,  sobbing  and  moaning,  held  botli  bands 
to  bis  face,  and  at  last  wept  and  groaned  aloud. 
All  sprang  up  from  tbe  table,  the  royal  physi- 
cian tried  in  vain  to  feel  the  pulse  of  the  un- 
happy monarch,  a  deep-seated,  unknown  torture 
appeared  to  agitate  him.  At  last,  after  much 
anxiety,  and  after  the  application  of  some  very 
strong  remedies,  the  king  seemed  to  come  a  little 
to  himself,  and  stammered  out  scarce  audibly 
the  words,  "  Too  little  fat  /" 

Then  the  queen  threw  herself  in  despair  at 
his  feet,  and  sobbed  out,  "  Oh,  my  poor,  unhappy, 
royal  husband !  Alas,  how  great  must  be  the 
suffering  which  you  endure  !  But  see  the  guilty 
one  at  your  feet ;  punish,  punish  her  without 
mercy.  Alas !  Lady  Mouserings  with  her  seven 
sons,  and  aunts  and  cousins,  have  eaten  up  the 
fat,  and — "  with  these  words  she  fell  right  over 
backwards  in  a  swoon.  Then  the  kin»",  full  of 
rage,  leaped  up  and  cried  out,  ■ "  Chief  maid  of 
honor,  how  happened  that  V     The  chief  maid  of 


64  NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING. 

honor  told  the  story,  as  much  as  she  knew  of  it, 
and  the  king  resolved  to  take  vengeance  upon 
Lady  Mouserings  and  her  family  for  having  eaten 
up  the  fat  of  his  sausages.  The  privy  council 
was  called,  and  it  was  resolved  to  summon  Lady 
Mouserings  to  trial,  and  confiscate  all  her  estates. 
But  as  the  king  was  of  opinion  that  in  the 
meanwhile  she  might  eat  up  more  of  his  sausage 
fat,  the  affair  was  placed  at  last  in  the  hands  of 
the  royal  watchmaker  and  mechanist. 

This  man  (whose  name  was  the  same  as  mine, 
to  wit,  Christian  Elias  Drosselmeier)  engaged,  by 
means  of  a  very  singular  and  deep  political 
scheme,  to  drive  Lady  Mouserings  and  her  family 
from  the  palace  forever.  He  invented  therefore 
several  curious  little  machines,  in  which  a  piece 
of  toasted  fat  was  fastened  to  a  thread,  and  these 
Drosselmeier  placed  around  lady  Mouserings' 
dwelling.  Lady  Mouserings  was  much  too  wise 
not  to  see  through  Drosselmeier's  craft,  but  all 
her  Avarnings,  all  her  entreaties  were  of  no  avail, 


NUTCEACKEE   AND    MOUSE-KING.  65 

every  one  of  her  seven  sons,  and  many  of  her 
cousins  and  aunts,  went  into  Drosselmeier's  ma- 
chines, and,  as  they  tried  to  snap  away  the  fat, 
were  caught  by  an  iron  grating,  which  fell  sud- 
denly down  behind  them,  and  were  afterwards 
miserably  slaughtered  in  the  kitchen.  Lady 
Mousering;s,  with  the  little  remnant  of  her  fam- 
ily,  forsook  the  dreadful  place.  Grief,  despair, 
revenge  filled  her  bosom.  The  court  revelled  in 
joy  at  this  event,  but  the  queen  was  very  anxious, 
for  she  knew  the  disposition  of  Lady  Mouserings, 
and  was  very  sure  that  she  would  not  suffer  the 
death  of  her  sons  to  go  unavenged.  In  fact, 
Lady  Mouserings  appeared  one  day,  when  the 
queen  was  in  the  kitchen,  |>reparing  a  harslet 
hash  for  her  royal  husband,  a  dish  of  which  he 
was  very  fond,  and  said,  "  My  sons,  my  cousins 
and  aunts  are  destroyed ;  take  care  queen,  that 
Mouse-Queen  does  not  bite  thy  little  princess  in 
two — take  good  care."  With  this  she  disap- 
peared, and  was  not  seen  again ;  but  the  queen 
S 


66  KUTCRApKER   AND   MOUSE-KING. 

was  so  frightened  that  she  let  the  liasli  fall  into 
the  fire  ;  and  thus  a  second  time  Lady  Mouserings 
sjDoiled  a  favorite  dish  for  the  king,  at  which  he 
was  very  angry. 

"  But  this,  dear  children,"  said  Drossehneier, 
"  is  enough  for  to-ni^ht — the  rest  at  another 
time." 

Maria,  who  had  her  own  thoughts  about  this 
story,  begged  Godfather  Drosselmeier  very  hard 
to  go  on,  but  she  could  not  prevail  upon  him. 
He  rose,  saying,  "  Too  much  at  once  is  bad  for 
the  health — the  rest  to-morrow."  As  the  Coun- 
sellor was  just  stepping  out  of  the  room,  Fred 
called  out,  "  Tell  me,  Godfather  Drosselmeier,  is 
it  then  really  true  that  you  invented  mouse- 
traps ?" 

"  How  can  you  ask  such  a  silly  question  ?" 
said  his  mother,  but  the  Counsellor  smiled  mys- 
teriously, and  said  in  an  under  tone,  "  Am  I  a 
skilful  watchmaker,  and  yet  not  able  to  invent  a 
mousetrap  ?" 


NUTCEACKEE  AND  MOUSE-KING-.       67 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  HARD  NUT  CONTINUED. 

You  know  now,  children,  commenced  Coun- 
sellor Drosselmeier,  on  the  following  even- 
ing, why  the  queen  took  such  care  in  guarding 
the  beautiful  Princess  Pirlipat.  Was  it  not  to 
be  feared  that  Lady  Mouserings  would  execute 
her  threat,  that  she  would  come  again,  and  bite 
the  little  princess  to  death  ?  Drosselnieier's  ma- 
chines were  not  the  least  protection  against  the 
wise  and  prudent  Lady  Mouserings,  but  the  court 
astronomer,  who  was  at  the  same  time  private 
star-gazer  and  fortune-teller  to  his  majesty,  de- 
clared it  to  be  his  opinion  that  the  family  of 
Baron  Purr  would  be  able  to  keep  Lady  Mouse- 
rings from  the  cradle.  Most  of  that  name  were 
secretaries  of  legation  at  court,  with  little  to 
do,  though  always  at  hand  for  an  embassy  to  a 
foreign  power,  but  they  must  now  render  them- 


68  NUTCRACKER   AND    MOUSE-KING. 

selves  useful  at  home.  And  thus  it  came  that 
each  of  the  waiting-women  must  hold  a  son  of 
that  family  upon  her  lap,  and  by  continual  and 
attentive  fondling,  lighten  the  severe  public  du- 
ties which  fell  to  their  lot. 

Late  one  night  the  two  chief  nurses  who  sat 
close  "by  the  cradle,  started  up  out  of  a  deep 
sleep.  All  around  lay  in  quiet  slumber — no 
purring — the  stillness  of  the  grave !  even  the 
death-watch  could  be  heard  ticking !  and  what 
was  the  terror  of  the  two  chief  waiting-women, 
as  they  just  saw  before  them  a  large,  dreadful 
mouse,  which  stood  erect  upon  its  hind  feet,  and 
had  laid  its  ugly  head  close  against  the  face  of 
the  princess.  With  a  cry  of  terror  they  jumped 
up ;  all  awoke,  but  in  a  moment  Lady  Mouser- 
ings  (for  the  great  mouse  by  Pirlipat's  cradle 
was  no  one  but  she)  ran  as  fast  as  she  could  to 
the  corner  of  the  chamber.  The  secretaries  of 
legation  leaped  after  her,  but  too  late — she  had 
disappeared   through  a  hole    in  the    chamber 


OTTCBACKEß  AM)   MOUSE-EXSTG.  69 

floor.  Little  Pirlipat  awoke  at  the  noise  and 
wept  bitterly.  "  Thank  heaven,"  cried  the 
nurse,  "  she  lives — she  lives  I"  But  how  great 
was  their  terror,  when  they  looked  at  Pirlipat, 
and  saw  what  a  change  had  taken  place  in  the 
sweet  beautiful  child.  Instead  of  the  white  and 
red  face  with  golden  locks,  a  large,  ill-shaped 
head  sat  upon  her  thin  shrivelled  body,  her 
azure  blue  eyes  were  changed  into  green  staring 
ones,  and  her  little  mouth  had  stretched  itself 
from  ear  to  ear.  The  queen  was  brought  to 
death's  door  by  grief  and  sorrow,  and  it  was 
found  necessary  to  hang  the  king's  library  with 
thick  wadded  tapestry,  for  again  and  again  he 
ran  his  head  against  the  wall,  crying  out  at 
every  time  in  lamentable  tones,  aAh,  me,  un- 
happy monarch !"  He  might  now  have  seen 
how  much  better  it  would  have  been  to  eat  his 
sausages  without  fat,  and  to  leave  Lady  Mouse- 
rings  and  her  family  at  peace  under  the  hearth ; 
but  Pirlipat's  royal  father  did  not  think  about 


70  NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-EUTa 

this,  lie  laid  all  tlie  blame  upon  the  court  watch- 
maker and  mechanist,  Christian  Elias  Drossel- 
meier of  Nuremburg.  He  therefore  wisely 
decreed  that  Drosselrneier  should  restore  the 
Princess  Pirlipat  to  her  former  condition  within 
four  weeks,  or  at  least  find  out  some  certain  and 
infallible  method  of  effecting  this,  otherwise  he 
should  suffer  a  shameful  death  under  the  axe  of 
the  executioner. 

Drosselrneier  was  not  a  little  terrified,  but 
he  had  great  confidence  in  his  skill  and  good 
fortune,  and  began  immediately  the  first  opera- 
tion which  he  thought  useful.  He  took  little 
Princess  Pirlipat  apart  with  great  dexterity,  un- 
screwed her  little  hands  and  feet,  and  carefully 
examined  her  inward  structure ;  but  he  found, 
alas,  that  the  princess  would  grow  uglier  as  she 
grew  bigger,  and  knew  not  what  to  do  or  what 
to  advise.  He  put  the  princess  carefully  toge- 
ther again,  and  sank  down  by  her  cradle  in  de- 
spair, for  he  was  not  allowed  to  leave  it.    The 


miTOE ACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING.  71 

fourth,  week  had  commenced — yes,  Thursday 
had  come,  when  the  king  looked  in  with  flash- 
ing eyes,  and  shaking  his  sceptre  at  him,  cried, 
"  Christian  Elias  Drosselmeier,  cure  the  princess, 
or  thou  must  die."  Drosselmeier  began  to  weep 
bitterly,  but  the  Princess  Pirlipat  lay  as  happy 
as  the  day,  and  cracked  nuts.  Pirlipat's  uncom- 
mon appetite  for  nuts  now  occurred  for  the  first 
time  to  the  mechanist,  and  the  fact  likewise  that 
she  had  come  into  the  world  with  teeth. 

In  truth,  immediately  after  her  transforma- 
tion, she  had  screamed  continually  until  a  nut 
accidentally  came  in  her  way,  which  she  imme- 
diately put  into  her  mouth,  cracked  it,  ate  the 
kernel,  and  then  became  quite  composed.  Since 
that  time  her  nurses  found  that  nothing  pleased 
her  so  well  as  to  be  supplied  with  nuts.  "  Oh, 
sacred  instinct  of  Nature!  eternal,  inexplicable 
sympathy  of  existence !"  cried  Christian  Elias 
Drosselmeier.  "  Thou  pointest  me  to  the  gates 
of  this  mystery.     I  will  knock,  and  they  will 


72  IHJTCEACKEE.  AND   MOUSE-KDTG-. 

open."  He  begged  straightway  for  permission 
to  speak  with  the  royal  astronomer,  and  was  led 
to  his  apartment  under  a  strong  guard.  They 
embraced  with  many  tears,  for  they  had  been 
warm  friends,  then  retired  into  a  private  cabinet, 
and  examined  a  great  many  books  which  treated 
of  instinct,  of  sympathies,  and  antipathies,  and 
other  mysterious  things.  Night  came  on;  the 
astronomer  looked  at  the  stars,  and  with  the 
aid  of  Drosselmeier,  who  had  great  skill  in  such 
matters,  set  up  the  horoscope  of  Princess  Pirlipat. 
It  was  a  great  deal  of  trouble,  for  the  lines  grew 
all  the  while  more  and  more  intricate ;  but  at  last 
— what  joy! — at  last  it  became  clear,  that  the 
Princess  Pirlipat,  in  order  to  be  freed  from  the 
magic  which  had  deformed  her,  and  to  regain 
her  beauty,  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  eat  the 
kernel  of  the  nut  Crackatuck. 

Now  the  nut  Crackatuck  had  such  a  hard 
shell,  that  an  eight-and-forty  pounder  might 
be  wheeled  over  it  without  breaking  it.    This 


NUTCEACKEE  AND   MOUSE-KING.  73 

hard  nut  must  be  cracked  with  the  teeth  before 
the  princess,  by  a  man  who  had  never  been 
shaved,  and  had  never  worn  boots.  The  young 
man  must  then  hand  her  the  kernel  with  closed 
eyes,  and  must  not  open  them  again  until  he 
had  marched  seven  steps  backward  without 
stumbling.  Drosselmeier  and  the  astronomer 
had  labored  together,  without  cessation,  for  three 
days  and  nights,  and  the  king  was  seated  at 
dinner  on  Sunday  afternoon,  when  the  mechanist, 
who  was  to  have  been  beheaded  early  Monday 
morning,  rushed  in  with  joy  and  transport,  and 
proclaimed  that  he  had  found  out  a  method 
of  restoring  to  the  Princess  Pirlipat  her  lost 
beauty.  The  king  embraced  him  with  great 
kindness,  and  promised  him  a  diamond  sword, 
four  orders  of  honor,  and  two  new  Sunday  suits. 
"  Immediately  after  dinner  we  will  go  to  work," 
he  added ;  "  and  see  to  it,  dear  mechanist,  that 
the  unshorn  young  man  in  shoes  is  ready  at 
hand  with  the  nut  Crackatuck ;   and  take  care 


74  KTJTCE ACKER  AND   MOITSE-KENTG-. 

that  lie  drinks  no  wine  beforehand,  for  fear  he 
should  stumble  as  he  goes  the  seven  steps  back- 
ward, like  a  crab ;  afterward  he  may  drink  like 
a  fish."  Drosselmeier  was  very  much  discom- 
posed at  these  words ;  and,  after  much  stuttering 
and  stammering,  said,  that  the  method  was  dis- 
covered,  indeed,  but  that  the  nut  Crackatuck 
and  the  young  man  to  crack  it  were  yet  to  be 
sought  after,  and  that  it  was  quite  doubtful 
whether  nut  or  nutcracker  would  ever  be  found. 
The  king  in  great  anger  swung  his  sceptre 
about  his  crowned  head,  and  roared  with  the 
voice  of  a  lion,  "  Then  off  goes  thy  head  !"  It 
was  very  fortunate  for  the  unhappy  Drosselmeier, 
that  the  kind's  dinner  had  been  cooked  better 
than  usual  this  day,  so  that  he  was  in  a  pleasant 
humor,  and  disposed  to  listen  to  reason,  while 
the  good  queen,  who  was  moved  by  the  hard  fate 
of  the  mechanist,  used  her  influence  to  soothe 
him.  Drosselmeier  then  after  a  while  took  cour- 
age, and  represented  to  the  monarch,  that  he  had 


NUTCBACKEK  AND  MOUSE-KING.  75 

performed  Ms  task  in  discovering  the  means  to 
restore  the  princess  to  her  beauty,  and  thus  by 
the  terms  of  the  royal  decree  had  secured  his 
safety.  The  king  said  that  was  all  trash,  stupid 
stuff  and  nonsense,  but  resolved  at  last,  that  the 
watchmaker  should  leave  the  court  instantly, 
accompanied  by  the  royal  astronomer,  and  never 
return  without  the  nut  Crackatuck  in  his  pocket. 
By  the  intercession  of  the  queen,  he  consented 
that  the  nutcracker  might  be  summoned  by  a 
notice  in  all  the  home  and  foreign  newspapers 
and  journals. 

Here   the  Counsellor  broke  off   again,  and 
promised  to  narrate  the  rest  on  the  following 


evening. 


CONCLUSION  OF  THE  STORY  OF  THE  HARD  NUT. 

The  next  evening  as  soon  as  the  candles  were 
lighted,  Godfather  Drosselmeier  appeared,  and 
continued  his  story  as  follows: 


*76  NUTCRACKER   AND    MOUSE-KING. 

Drosselmeier  and  the  astronomer  had  been 
fifteen  years  on  their  journey  without  seeing 
the  least  signs  of  the  nut  Crackatuck.  It 
would  take  me  a  month,  children,  to  tell  where 
they  went,  and  what  strange  things  happened 
to  them.  I  must  pass  them  over,  and  com- 
mence where  Drosselmeier  sank  at  last  into 
despondency,  and  felt  a  great  desire  to  see  his 
dear  native  city,  Nuremburg.  This  desire  came 
upon  him  all  at  once,  as  he  was  smoking  a 
pipe  of  tobacco  with  his  friend  in  the  middle 
of  a  great  wood  in  Asia.  "  Oh,  SAveet  city," 
he  cried,  "sweet  native  city,  sweet  Nuremberg! 
He  who  has  never  seen  thee,  though  he  may 
have  travelled  to  London,  Paris,  Rome,  if  his 
heart  is  not  dead  to  emotion,  must  continually 
desire  to  visit  thee — thee,  oh  Nuremberg,  sweet 
city,  where  there  are  so  many  beautiful  houses 
with  windows!"  As  Drosselmeier  grieved  in 
such  a  sorrowful  manner,  the  astronomer  was 
moved  with  sympathy,  and  began  to  cry  and 


NUTCKACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING.  77 

howl  so  pitifully  that  it  was  heard  far  and  wide 
through.  Asia.  He  soon  composed  himself  again, 
wiped  the  tears  out  of  his  eyes,  and  said :  "  But 
why,  my  respected  colleague,  why  sit  here  and 
howl  \  Why  should  we  not  go  to  Nuremberg  ? 
Is  it  not  all  the  same,  wherever  we  seek  after 
this  miserable  nut,  Crackatuck  V 

"  That  is  true,"  replied  Drosselmeier,  greatly 
consoled.  Both  arose,  knocked  out  their  pipes, 
and  went  straightforward  out  of  the  wood  in  the 
middle  of  Asia,  right  to  Nuremburg.  They  had 
scarcely  arrived  there,  when  Drosselmeier  ran  to 
his  brother,  Christopher  Zacharias  Drosselmeier, 
puppet-maker,  varnisher,  and  gilder,  whom  he 
had  not  seen  for  these  many  years.  The  watch- 
maker told  him  the  whole  story  of  the  Princess 
Pirlipat,  Lady  Mouserings,  and  the  nut  Crack- 
atuck, so  that  he  struck  his  hands  together,  over 
and  over  again  with  astonishment,  and  exclaimed : 

O  7 

"  Ei,  ei,  brother,  brother,  what  strange  things  are 
these!"     Drosselmeier  then  related  the  history 


78  NUTCEACKER   AND   MOUSE-KGNTG. 

of  his  travels :  how  he  had  passed  two  years  with 
King  Date,  how  coldly  he  had  been  received  by 
Prince  Almond,  and  how  he  had  sought  infor- 
mation to  no  purpose  of  the  Natural  Society  in 
Squirrelberg — in  short,  how  his  search  every- 
where had  been  in  vain  to  find  even  the  least 
signs  of  the  nut  Crackatuck. 

During  this  account,  Christopher  Zacharias 
had  often  snapped  his  fingers,  turned  about  on 
one  foot,  winked,  laughed,  clucked  with  his 
tongue,  and  then  called  out:  "Hi — hem — ei — 
oh  !— if  it  should  !— "  At  last,  he  tossed  his  hat 
and  wig  up  in  the  air,  clasped  his  brother  round 
the  neck,  and  cried :  "  Brother,  brother,  you  are 
safe ! — safe,  I  say ;  for  I  must  be  wonderfully 
mistaken  if  I  have  not  that  nut  Crackatuck  at 
this  very  moment  in  my  possession  I"  He  then 
drew  a  little  box  from  his  pocket,  and  took  out 
of  it  a  gilded  nut  of  moderate  size.  "  See,"  he 
said,  "  this  nut  fell  into  my  hands  in  this  way. 
Many  years  ago,  a  stranger  came  here  at  Christ- 


NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING.  79 

mas  time  with,  a  sack  full  of  nuts,  which,  he 
offered  for  sale  cheap.  Just  as  he  passed  my 
shop,  he  got  into  a  quarrel  with  a  nut-seller 
of  this  city,  who  did  not  like  to  see  a  stranger 
come  hither  to  undersell  him,  and  for  this  reason 
attacked  him.  The  man  put  down  his  sack 
upon  the  ground,  the  better  to  defend  himself, 
and  at  the  same  moment,  a  heavily-laden  wagon 
passed  directly  over  it ;  all  the  nuts  were  cracked 
in  pieces  except  this  one,  which  the  stranger, 
with  a  singular  smile,  offered  me,  for  a  bright 
dollar  of  the  year  1720.  I  thought  that  strange, 
but  as  I  found  in  my  pocket  just  such  a  dollar 
as  the  man  wanted,  I  bought  the  nut,  and  gilded 
it  over,  without  exactly  knowing  why  I  bought 
the  nut  so  dear,  or  why  I  set  so  much  store  by  it. 
All  doubt,  whether  this  nut  was  actually  the 
long-sought  nut,  Crackatuck,  was  instantly  re- 
moved, when  the  astronomer  was  called,  who 
carefully  scraped  off  the  gold,  and  found  upon 
the  rind  the  word  Crackatuck,  engraved  in  Chi- 


80  NUTCR ACKER   AKD   MOUSE-KETO. 

nese  characters.  The  joy  of  the  travellers  was 
beyond  bounds,  and  the  brother  the  happiest 
man  under  the  sun,  for  Drosselmeier  assured 
him  that  his  fortune  was  made,  since  he  would 
have  a  considerable  pension  for  the  rest  of  his 
clays,  and  then  there  was  the  gold  which  had 
been  scraped  off — he  might  keep  that  for  gild- 
ing. The  mechanist  and  the  astronomer  had 
both  put  on  their  night-caps,  and  were  getting 
into  bed  as  the  latter  commenced:  "My  wor- 
thy colleague,  good  ^fortune  never  comes  sin- 
gle. Take  my  word  for  it,  we  have  found,  not 
only  the  nut  Crackatuck,  but  also  the  young  man 
who  is  to  crack  it,  and  hand  the  kernel  to  the 
princess.  I  mean  nobody  else  than  your  bro- 
ther's son.  I  cannot  sleep ;  no,  this  very  night 
I  must  cast  the  youth's  horoscope."  "With  these 
words,  he  threw  the  night-cap  off  his  head,  and 
began  straightway  to  take  an  observation. 

The  brother's  son  was  in  truth  a  handsome, 
well  grown  young  man,  who  had  never  been 


NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING.  81 

shaved,  and  who  had  never  worn  boots.  In  his 
early  youth  he  had  on  Christmas  nights  gone 
around  as  a  Merry  Andrew,  but  this  could  not 
be  seen  in  his  behavior  in  the  least,  so  well 
had  his  manners  been  formed  by  his  fathers 
care.  On  Christmas  days  he  wore  a  handsome 
red  coat  trimmed  with  gold,  a  sword,  a  hat 
under  his  arm,  and  a  curling  wig.  In  this  fine 
dress  he  would  stand  in  his  father's  shop,  and 
out  of  gallantry  crack  nuts  for  the  young  girls, 
for  which  reason  he  was  called  the  handsome 
Nutcracker. 

On  the  following  morning  the  astronomer 
was  in  raptures:  he  fell  upon  the  mechanist's 
neck,  and  cried,  "It  is  he — we  have  him — he 
is  found!  But  there  are  two  things,  worthy 
colleague,  which  we  must  see  to.  In  the  first 
place,  we  must  braid  for  your  excellent  nephew 
a  stout  wooden  queue,  which  shall  be  joined  in 
such  a  way  to  his  lower  jaw,  that  it  can  move  it 
with  great  force.     In  the  next  place,  when  we 


82  NTJTCE ACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING. 

arrive  at  the  king's  palace,  we  must  let  no  one 
know  that  we  have  brought  the  voung   man 

with  us  who  is  to  crack  the  nut  Crackatuck.  It 
is  best  that  he  should  not  be  found  for  a  long 
time.  I  read  in  his  horoscope,  that  after  many 
young  men  have  broken  their  teeth  to  no  pur- 
pose, the  king  will  promise  to  him  who  cracks 
the  nut,  and  restores  to  the  princess  her  lost 
beauty,  the  princess  herself,  and  the  succession 
to  the  throne  as  a  reward." 

His  brother,  the  puppet-maker,  was  highly 
delighted  to  think  that  his  son  might  marry  the 
Princess  Pirlipat,  and  become  a  prince  and  king, 
and  he  gave  him  up  entirely  into  the  hands  of 
the  two  travellers.  The  queue  which  Drossel- 
meier  fastened  upon  his  young  and  hopeful  ne- 
phew, answered  admirably,  so  that  he  made  a 
series  of  the  most  successful  experiments,  even 
upon  the  hardest  peach-stones.  As  Drossel- 
meier  and  the  astronomer  had  sent  immediate 
information  to  the  palace,  of  the  discovery  of  the 


NUTCRACKER   AOT)   MOUSE-KING.  83 

nut  Crackatuck,  suitable  notices  liad  been  pub- 
lished, and  when  the  travellers  arrived,  many 
handsome  young  men,  and  among  them  some 
handsome  princes,  had  appeared,  who  trusting 
to  their  sound  teeth,  were  ready  to  undertake 
the  disenchantment  of  the  princess.  The  travel- 
lers were  not  a  little  terrified  when  they  beheld 
the  princess  again.  Her  little  body,  with  its 
tiny  hands  and  feet,  was  hardly  able  to  carry 
her  great  misshapen  head,  and  the  ugliness  of 
her  face  was  increased  by  a  white  cotton  beard, 
which  had  spread  itself  around  her  mouth,  and 
over  her  chin.  All  happened  as  the  astrono- 
mer had  read  in  the  horoscope.  One  youth  in 
shoes  after  another,  bit  upon  the  nut  Crackatuck 
until  his  teeth  and  jaws  were  sore,  and  as  he 
was  led  away,  half  swooning,  by  the  physician 
in  attendance,  sighed  out,  "That  was  a  hard 
nut." 

When  the  king,  in  the  anguish  of  his  heart, 
had  promised  his  daughter  and  his  kingdom  to 


84  NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING. 

him  who  should  effect  the  disenchantment,  the 
handsome  young  Drosselmeier  stepped  forward, 
and  begged  for  j)ermission  to  begin  the  experi- 
ment. And  no  one  had  pleased  the  fancy  of 
Princess  Pirlipat  as  well  as  young  Drosselmeier ; 
she  laid  her  little  hand  upon  her  heart,  and 
sighed  deeply,  "Ah,  if  this  might  be  the  one 
who  is  to  crack  the  nut  Crackatuck,  and  become 
my  husband !"  After  young  Drosselmeier  had 
gracefully  saluted  the  king  and  queen,  and  then 
the  Princess  Pirlipat,  he  received  the  nut  Crack- 
atuck from  the  hands  of  the  master  of  ceremo- 
nies, put  it  without  hesitation  between  his  teeth, 
pulled  his  queue  very  hard,  and  crack — crack — 
the  shell  broke  into  many  pieces.  He  then 
nicely  removed  the  little  threads  and  broken 
bits  of  shell  that  hung  to  the  kernel,  and  reach- 
ed it  with  a  low  bow  to  the  princess,  after  which 
he  shut  his  eyes,  and  began  to  walk  backwards. 
The  princess  straightway  swallowed  the  kernel, 
and  behold !  her  ugly  shape  was  gone,  and  in 


THE  DISENCHANTMENT  OF  THE  PRINCESS 


NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING.  85 

its  place  appeared  a  most  beautiful  figure,  with 
a  face  of  roses  and  lilies,  delicate  white  and  red, 
eyes  of  living,  sparkling  azure,  and  locks  curling 
in  bright  golden  ringlets. 

Drums  and  trumpets  mingled  their  sounds 
with  the  loud  rejoicings  of  the  people.  The 
king  and  his  whole  court  danced,  as  at  Pirlipat's 
birth,  upon  one  leg ;  and  the  queen  had  to  be 
carefully  tended  with  Cologne  water,  because 
she  had  fallen  into  a  swoon  from  delight  and 
rapture.  Young  Drosselmeier,  who  had  still  his 
seven  steps  to  perform,  was  a  good  deal  discom- 
posed by  the  tumult,  but  he  kept  firm,  and 
was  just  stretching  back  his  right  foot  for  the 
seventh  step,  when  Lady  Mouserings  rose  squeak- 
ing and  squealing  out  of  the  floor ;  down  came 
his  foot  upon  her  head,  and  he  stumbled,  so  that 
he  hardly  kept  himself  from  falling.  Alas !  what 
a  hard  fate!  As  quick  as  thought,  the  youth 
was  changed  to  the  former  figure  of  the  princess. 
His  body  became  shrivelled  up,  and  was  hardly 


86  NUTCRACKER   AND    MOUSE-KING. 

able  to  support  his  great  misshapen  head,  his 
eyes  turned  green  and  staring,  and  his  mouth 
was  stretched  from  ear  to  ear.  Instead  of  his 
queue,  a  narrow  wooden  cloak  hung  down  upon 
his  back,  with  which  he  moved  his  lower  jaw. 

The  watchmaker  and  astronomer  were  be- 
numbed with  terror  and  affright,  while  Lady 
Mouserings  rolled  bleeding  and  kicking  upon 
the  floor.  Her  malice  did  not  go  unpunished, 
for  young  Drosselmeier  had  trodden  upon  her 
neck  so  heavily  with  the  sharp  heel  of  his  shoe 
that  she  could  not  survive.  When  Lady  Mouse- 
rings  lay  in  her  last  agonies,  she  squeaked  and 
whimpered  in  a  piteous  tone :  "  Oh,  Crackatuck ! 
hard  nut — hi,  hi ! — of  thee  I  now  must  die  ! — 
que,  que — son  with  seven  crowns  will  bite — 
Nutcracker — at  night — hi,  hi — que,  que — and 
revenue  his  mother's  death — short  breath — must 
I — hi,  hi — die,  die — so  young — que,  que — oh, 
agony! — queek!"  With  this  cry,  Lady  Mouse- 
rings  died,  and  the  royal  oven-heater  carried  out 


NUTCEACKER   AND    MOUSE-KING.  87 

her  body.  As  for  yonng  Drosselmeier,  no  one 
troubled  himself  any  farther  about  him,  but  the 
princess  put  the  king  in  mind  of  his  promise,  and 
he  commanded  that  they  should  bring  the  young 
hero  before  him.  But  when  the  unfortunate 
youth  approached,  the  princess  held  both  hands 
before  her  face,  and  cried,  "Away,  away  with 
the  ugly  Nutcracker !"  The  court  marshal  im- 
mediately took  him  by  the  shoulders,  and  pushed 
him  out  of  doors.  The  king  was  full  of  anger, 
because  they  had  wished  to  give  him  a  Nut- 
cracker for  a  son-in-law,  and  he  put  all  the 
blame  upon  the  mechanist  and  astronomer,  and 
banished  them  forever  from  the  kingdom.  This 
did  not  stand  in  the  horoscope  which  the  as- 
tronomer had  set  up  at  Nuremberg,  but  he 
did  not  allow  himself  to  be  discouraged.  He 
straightway  took  another  observation,  and  de- 
clared that  he  could  read  in  the  stars,  that 
young  Drosselmeier  would  conduct  himself  so 
well  in  his  new  station,  that  in   spite  of  his 


88  NUTCPwACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING. 

deformity,  he  would  yet  become  a  prince  and  a 
king ;  and  that  his  former  beauty  would  return, 
as  soon  as  the  son  of  Lady  Mouserings,  who  had 
been  born  with  seven  heads,  after  the  death 
of  her  seven  sons,  had  fallen  by  his  hand,  and  a 
maiden  had  loved  him,  notwithstanding  his  ugly 
shape.  And  they  say  that  young  Drosselmeier 
has  actually  been  seen  about  Christmas  time  in 
his  father's  shop  at  Nuremberg,  as  a  Nutcracker, 
it  is  true,  but,  at  the  same  time,  as  a  prince. 

This,  children,  is  the  story  of  the  Hard  Nut ; 
and  you  know  now  why  people  say  so  often, 
"  That  was  a  hard  nut !"  and  whence  it  comes 
that  Nutcrackers  are  so  ugly. 

The  Counsellor  thus  concluded  his  narration. 
Maria  thought  that  the  Princess  Pirlipat  was  an 
ill-natured,  ungrateful  thing ;  and  Fred  declared, 
that  if  Nutcracker  were  any  thing  of  a  man,  he 
would  not  be  lon^  in  settling  matters  with  the 
Mouse-King,  and  would  get  his  old  shape  again 
very  soon. 


NUTCRACKER   ÄKD   MOUSE-KING.  89 


THE  UNCLE  AND  NEPHEW. 

If  any  one  of  my  good  readers  has  ever  had 
the  misfortune  to  cut  himself  with  glass,  he 
knows  how  it  hurts,  and  how  long  a  time  it 
takes  to  heal.  Whenever  Maria  tried  to  get 
uj3,  she  felt  very  dizzy,  and  so  it  continued  for  a 
whole  week,  during  which  time  she  was  obliged 
to  remain  in  bed ;  but  at  last  she  became  entirely 
well,  and  could  play  about  the  chamber  as 
merrily  as  ever.  Every  thing  in  the  glass  case 
looked  prettily,  for  the  trees,  flowers,  and  houses, 
and  beautiful  puppets,  stood  there  as  new  and 
bright  as  ever.  But,  best  of  all,  Maria  found  her 
dear  Nutcracker  again.  He  stood  on  the  second 
shelf,  and  smiled  upon  her  with  a  good,  sound 
set  of  teeth.  In  the  midst  of  all  the  pleasure 
which  she  felt  in  gazing  at  her  favorite,  a  pang 
went  through  her  heart,  when  she  thought  that 


90  NUTCRACKER    AND    MOUSE-KING. 

Godfather  Drosselmeier's  story  had  been  nothing 
else  but  the  history  of  the  Nutcracker,  and 
of  his  quarrel  with  Lady  Mouserings  and  her 
son.  She  knew  well  enough  that  her  Nutcracker 
could  be  none  other  than  the  young  Drosselmeier 
of  Nuremberg — Godfather  Drosselmeier's  agree- 
able,  but  now,  alas !  enchanted,  nephew.  For, 
that  the  skilful  watchmaker  at  the  court  of  Pir- 
lipat's  father  was  the  Counsellor  Drosselmeier 
himself,  she  did  not  doubt  for  an  instant,  even 
while  he  was  telling  the  story. 

"But  why  was  it  that  your  uncle  did  not 
help  you? — why  did  he  not  help  you?"  com- 
plained Maria,  as  it  became  clearer  and  clearer 
to  her  mind,  that  in  that  battle  which  she  saw, 
Nutcracker's  crown  and  kingdom  were  at  stake. 
u  Were  not  all  the  other  puppets  subject  to  him, 
and  is  it  not  plain  that  the  prophecy  of  the 
astronomer  has  been  fulfilled,  and  that  young 
Drosselmeier  is  prince  and  khig  of  the  puppets  ?" 
While  the  shrewd  Maria  explained  and  arranged 


NUTCRACKER    AND    MOUSE-KINC.  91 

all  this  so  well  in  her  mind,  she  believed,  since 
she  had  seen  Nutcracker  and  his  vassals  in  life 
and  motion,  that  they  actually  did  live  and 
move.  But  that  was  not  so ;  every  thing  in  the 
glass  case  remained  stiff  and  lifeless ;  yet  Maria, 
far  from  giving  up  her  conviction,  cast  all  the 
blame  upon  the  magic  of  Lady  Mouserings  and 
her  seven-headed  son.  "  But,  if  you  are  not  able 
to  move,  or  to  talk  to  me,  dear  Master  Drossel- 
meier,"  she  said  aloud  to  the  Nutcracker,  "  yet 
I  know  well  enough  that  vou  understand  me, 
and  know  what  a  good  friend  I  am  to  you. 
You  may  depend  upon  my  help,  and  I  will  beg 
of  your  uncle  to  bring  his  skill  to  your  assistance, 
whenever  you  have  need  of  it."  Nutcracker 
remained  still  and  motionless,  but  it  seemed  to 
Maria  as  if  a  gentle  sigh  was  breathed  in  the 
glass  case,  so  that  the  panes  trembled,  scarce 
audibly  indeed,  but  with  a  strange,  sweet  tone ; 
and  a  voice  rang  out,  like  a  little  bell :  "  Maria 
mine — I'll    be   thine — and    thou    mine — Maria 


92  NUTCRACKER   AND    MOUSE-KING. 

mine  !"     Maria  felt,  in  the  cold  shuddering:  that 
crept  over  her,  a  singular  pleasure. 

Twilight  had  come  on ;  the  doctor,  with 
Godfather  Drosselmeier,  entered  the  sitting- 
room;  and  it  was  not  long  before  Louise  had 
arranged  the  tea-table,  and  all  sat  around,  talking 
cheerfully  of  various  things.  Maria  had  very 
quietly  taken  her  little  arm-chair,  and  seated 
herself  close  at  Godfather  Drosselmeier's  feet. 
During  a  moment  when  they  were  all  silent,  she 
looked  up  with  her  large  blue  eyes  in  the 
Counsellor's  face,  and  said :  "  I  know,  dear  God- 
father Drosselmeier,  that  my  Nutcracker  is  your 
nephew,  the  young  Drosselmeier,  of  Nuremberg, 
and  he  has  become  a  prince,  or  king  rather, 
as  your  companion,  the  astronomer,  foretold. 
All  has  turned  out  exactly  so.  You  know 
now  that  he  is  at  war  with  the  son  of  Lady 
Mouserings — with  the  hateful  Mouse-King.  Why 
do  you  not  help  him?"  Maria  then  related  the 
whole  course  of  the  battle,  just  as  she  had  seen 


NUTCRACKER  AND   MOUSE-KING.  93 

it,  and  was  often  interrupted  by  the  loud  laugh- 
ter of  her  mother  and  Louise.  Fred  and  Dros- 
selnieier  only  remained  serious.  "  Where  does 
the  child  get  all  this  strange  stuff  in  her  head  V 
said  the  doctor. 

"  She  has  a  lively  imagination,"  replied  the 
mother ;  "  in  fact,  they  are  nothing  but  dreams 
caused  by  her  violent  fever.1' 

"  That  story  is  not  true,"  said  Fred.  "  My 
red  hussars  are  not  such  cowards  as  that.  If  I 
thought  so  —  swords  and  daggers  !  —  I  would 
make  a  stir  among  them !" 

But  Godfather  Drosselmeier,  with  a  strange 
smile,  took  little  Maria  upon  his  lap,  and  said  in 
a  softer  tone  than  he  was  ever  heard  to  speak  in 
before:  "Ah,  dear  Maria,  more  power  is  given 
to  thee  than  to  me,  or  to  the  rest  of  us.  Thou, 
like  Pirlipat,  art  a  princess  born,  for  thou  dost 
reign  in  a  bright  and  beautiful  kingdom.  But 
thou  hast  much  to  suffer,  if  thou  wouldst  take 
the  part  of  the  poor  misshapen  Nutcracker,  for 


94  NUTCEACKEE  AND   M0USE-EINTG. 

the  Mouse-King  watches  for  Mm  at  every  hole 
and  corner.  I  cannot,  thou — thou  alone  canst 
rescue  him  ;  be  firm  and  true."  Neither  Maria 
nor  any  one  else  knew  what  Drosselmeier  meant 
by  these  words ;  and  they  appeared  so  singular 
to  Doctor  Stahlbaum,  that  he  felt  the  Counsel- 
lor's pulse,  and  said :  "  Worthy  friend,  you  have 
some  violent  congestion  about  the  head ;  I  will 
prescribe  something  for  you."  But  the  mother 
shook  her  head  thoughtfully,  and  spoke:  "I 
feel  what  it  is  that  the  Counsellor  means,  but  I 
cannot  express  it  in  words." 


THE  VICTORY. 

Not  Ions:  after,  Maria  was  awaked  one  moon- 
light  night  by  a  strange  rattling,  that  seemed 
to  come  out  of  a  corner  of  the  chamber.  It 
sounded  as  if  little  stones  were  thrown  and  rolled 
about;    and  every  now  and  then  there  was  a 


OTJTCEACKEE   AND   MOUSE-KING.  95 

terrible  squeaking  and  squealing.  "All !  the 
mice — the  mice  are  coming  as^am !"  exclaimed 
Maria,  in  affright ;  and  she  was  about  to  wake 
her  mother,  but  her  voice  failed  her,  and  she 
could  stir  neither  hand  nor  foot,  for  she  saw  the 
Mouse-King  work  his  way  out  of  a  hole  in  the 
wall,  then  run,  with  sparkling  eyes  and  crowns, 
around  and  around  the  chamber,  when,  at  last, 
with  a  desperate  leap,  he  sprang  upon  the  little 
table  that  stood  close  by  her  bed.  "  Hi — hi — 
hi — must  give  me  thy  sugar-plums — thy  ginger- 
bread— little  thing — or  I  will  bite  thy  Nut- 
cracker— thy  Nutcracker !"  So  squeaked  the 
Mouse-King,  and  snapped  and  grated  hideously 
with  his  teeth,  then  sprang  down  again,  and 
away  through  the  hole  in  the  wall.  Maria  was 
so  distressed  by  this  occurrence  that  she  looked 
very  pale  in  the  morning,  and  was  scarcely  able 
to  say  a  word.  A  hundred  times  she  was  going 
to  inform  her  mother  or  Louise  of  what  had 
happened,   or   at  least  to   tell  Fred,  but   she 


96  miTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KESTG. 

tliouglit :  "  No  one  will  believe  me,  and  I  shall 
only  be  laughed  at."  This,  at  least,  was  very 
clear,  that  if  she  wished  to  save  little  Nutcracker, 
she  must  give  up  her  sugar-plums  and  her  ginger- 
bread. So,  in  the  evening,  she  laid  all  that  she 
had — and  she  had  a  great  deal — down  before 
the  foot  of  the  glass  case. 

The  next  morning:,  her  mother  said :  "  It 
is  strange  what  brings  the  mice  all  at  once 
into  the  sitting-room.  See,  poor  Maria,  they 
have  eaten  up  all  your  gingerbread."  And  so  it 
was.  The  ravenous  Mouse-King  had  not  found 
the  sugar-plums  exactly  to  his  taste,  but  he  had 
gnawed  them  with  his  sharp  teeth,  so  that  they 
had  to  be  thrown  away.  Maria  did  not  grieve 
about  her  cake  and  sugar-plums,  for  she  was 
greatly  delighted  to  think  that  she  had  saved 
little  Nutcracker.  But  what  was  her  terror, 
when  the  very  next  night  she  heard  a  squeaking 
and  squealing  close  to  her  ear !  Ah,  the  Mouse- 
King  was  there  again,  and  his  eyes  sparkled 


NUTCEAOKEE   AND   MOUSE-KING.  97 

more  dreadfully,  and  he  whistled  and  squeaked 
much  louder  than  before:  "Must  give  me  thy 
sugar-puppets — chocolate  figures — little  thing — 
or  I  will  bite  thy  Nutcracker — thy  Nutcracker !" 
and  with  this,  the  terrible  Mouse-King  sprang 
down,  and  ran  away  again.  Maria  was  very 
sad;  she  went  the  next  morning  to  the  glass 
case,  and  gazed  with  the  most  sorrowful  looks  at 
her  sugar  and  chocolate  figures,  And  her  grief 
was  reasonable,  for  thou  canst  not  imagine,  my 
attentive  reader,  what  beautiful  figures  of  su^ar 
and  chocolate  little  Maria  Stahlbaum  possessed. 
A  pretty  shepherd  and  shepherdess  watched  a 
whole  flock  of  milk-white  lambs,  while  a  little 
dog  frisked  about  them ;  next  came  two  letter- 
carriers,  with  letters  in  their  hands ;  and  then  four 
neat  pairs  of  nicely-dressed  boys  and  girls,  with 
gay  ribbons,  rocked  at  see-saw  upon  as  many 
boards,  white  and  smooth  as  marble.  Behind 
some  dancers,  stood  Farmer  Caraway  and  the 
Maid  of  Orleans — these  Maria  did  not  care  so 
1 


98  NUTCEACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING. 

much  about;  but  close  in  a  corner  stood  her 
darling,  a  little  red-cheeked  baby,  and  now  the 
tears  came  into  her  eyes.  "Ah,  clear  Master 
Drosselmeier,"  she  said,  turning  to  Nutcracker, 
"there  is  nothing  that  I  will  not  do  to  save 
you,  but  this  is  very  hard !"  Nutcracker  looked 
all  the  while  so  sorrowfully,  that  Maria,  who 
felt  as  if  she  saw  the  Mouse-King  open  his 
seven  mouths,  to  devour  the  unhappy  youth, 
resolved  to  sacrifice  them  all.  So  at  evening, 
she  placed  all  her  sugar  figures  down  at  the  foot 
of  the  glass  case,  just  as  she  had  clone  before 
with  her  sugar-plums  and  cake.  She  kissed  the 
shepherd,  and  the  shepherdess,  and  the  lambs, 
and  at  last  took  her  darling,  the  little  red- 
cheeked  baby  out  of  the  corner,  and  placed  it 
down  behind  all  the  rest ;  Farmer  Caraway  and 
the  Maid  of  Orleans  must  stand  in  the  first 
row. 

"Well,  that  is  too  bad!"   said  her  mother, 
the  next  morning.      "A  mouse  must  have  got 


NUTCEACKEE   AND   MOUSE-KING.  99 

into  the  glass  case,  for  all  poor  Maria's  sugar 
figures  are  gnawed  and  bitten  in  pieces."  Maria 
could  not  keep  from  shedding  tears,  but  she  soon 
smiled  again,  and  said  to  herself:  aThat  is 
nothing,  if  Nutcracker  is  only  saved."  In  the 
evening,  her  mother  told  the  Counsellor  of  the 
mischief  which,  the  mouse  had  been  doing  in  the 
glass  case,  and  said :  "  It  is  provoking  that  we 
cannot  destroy  this  fellow  that  makes  such  havoc 
with  Maria's  sugar  toys." 

"  Ha ! "  cried  Fred,  merrily,  "  the  baker 
opposite  has  a  fine,  gray  secretary  of  legation ; 
suppose  I  bring  him  over  ?  He  will  soon  make 
an  end  of  the  thing ;  he  will  have  the  mouse's 
head  off,  very  quickly,  even  if  it  be  Lady  Mouse- 
rings  herself,  or  her  son,  the  Mouse-King." 

"And  jump  about  the  tables  and  chairs," 
said  his  mother,  laughing,  "and  throw  down 
cups  and  saucers,  and  do  all  kinds  of  mischief." 

"Ah,  no  indeed,"  said  Fred;  "the  baker's 
secretary  of  legation  is  a  light,  careful  fellow. 


100  NUTCRACKER   AND    MOUSE-KENTG. 

I  wish  I  could  walk  on  the  roof  of  a  house  as 
well  as  he !" 

"Let  us  have  no  cats  in  the  night,"  said 
Louise,  who  could  not  bear  them. 

"Fred's  plan  is  the  best,"  said  the-  doctor, 
but  we  will  try  a  trap  first.    Have  we  got  one  V 

"Godfather  Drosselmeier  can  make  them 
best,"  said  Fred,  "  for  he  invented  them." 

All  laughed ;  and,  when  the  mother  said  that 
there  was  no  mouse-trap  in  the  house,  the  Coun- 
sellor assured  her  that  he  had  a  number  in  his 
possession,  and  immediately  sent  for  one.  In  a 
short  time  it  was  brought,  and  a  very  excellent 
mouse-trap  it  seemed  to  be.  The  story  of  the 
Hard  Nut  now  came  vividly  to  the  minds  of  the 
children.  As  the  cook  toasted  the  fat,  Maria 
shook  and  trembled.  Her  head  was  full  of  the 
story  and  its  wonders,  and  she  said  to  her 
old  friend  Dora:  "Ah,  great  Queen,  take  care 
of  Lady  Mouserings  and  her  family!"  But 
Fred  had  drawn  his  sword,  and  cried:    "Let 


NTTTCE ACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING.  101 

them  come  on ! — let  them  come  on !  I  "will 
scatter  them !"  But  all  remained  still  and  quiet 
under  the  hearth.  As  the  Counsellor  tied  the 
fat  to  a  fine  piece  of  thread,  and  set  the  trap 
softly,  softly  down  by  the  glass  case,  Fred  cried 
out :  "  Take  care,  Godfather  Mechanist,  or  Mouse- 
King  will  play  you  a  trick  !" 

Ah,  but  what  a  night  did  Maria  pass !  Some- 
thing cold  as  ice  tapped  here  and  there  against 
her  arm;  and  crept,  rough  and  hideous,  upon 
her  cheek,  and  squeaked  and  squealed  in  her 
ear.  The  hateful  Mouse-King  sat  upon  her 
shoulder.  He  opened  his  seven  blood-red  mouths, 
and,  grating  and  snapping  his  teeth,  he  squeaked 
and  hissed  in  her  ear:  "Wise  mouse  —  wise 
mouse — goes  not  into  the  house — goes  not  to 
the  feast — likes  sugar  things  best — craft  set  at 
naught — will  not  be  caught — give,  give  all — 
new  frock — picture  books — all  the  best— or  shall 
have  no  rest. — I  will  tear  and  bite — Nutcracker 
at  night — hi,  hi — que,  que!"     Maria  was  full 


102  NUTCE ACKER   AND   MOUSE-KINO. 

of  sorrow  and  anxiety.  She  looked  very  pale 
and  disturbed  on  the  following  morning,  when 
Fred  told  her  that  the  mouse  had  not  been 
caught,  so  that  her  mother  thought  that  she 
was  grieving  for  her  sugar  things,  or  perhaps 
was  afraid  of  the  mouse.  "  Do  not  grieve,  dear 
child,"  she  said ;  "we  will  soon  get  rid  of  him. 
If  the  trap  does  not  answer,  Fred  shall  bring  his 
gray  secretary  of  legation." 

As  soon  as  Maria  was  alone  in  the  sitting- 
room,  she  stepped  to  the  glass  case,  and  said, 
sobbing,  to  Nutcracker:  "Ah,  my  dear,  good 
Mr.  Drosselmeier,  what  can  I — poor,  unhappy 
maiden — do?  for,  if  I  should  give  up  all  my 
picture-books,  and  even  my  new,  beautiful  frock, 
to  the  hateful  mouse,  he  will  ask  more  and 
more.  And,  when  I  have  nothing  left  to  give 
him,  he  will  at  last  want  me,  instead  of  you,  to 
bite  in  pieces."  As  little  Maria  grieved  and 
sorrowed  in  this  way,  she  observed  a  large  spot 
of  blood  on  Nutcracker's  neck,  which  had  been 


NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING.  103 

there  ever  since  the  battle.  Now,  after  Maria 
had  known  that  her  Nutcracker  was  young 
Drosselmeier,  the  Counsellor's  nephew,  she  did 
not  carry  him  any  more  in  her  arms,  nor  hug 
and  kiss  him,  as  she  used  to  do;  indeed,  she 
would  very  seldom  move  or  touch  him;  but 
when  she  saw  the  spot  of  blood,  she  took  him 
carefully  from  the  shelf,  and  commenced  rubbing 
it  with  her  pocket-handkerchief.  But  what  was 
her  astonishment,  when  she  felt  that  he  suddenly 
grew  warm  in  her  hand,  and  began  to  move! 
She  put  him  quickly  back  upon  the  shelf  again, 
when — behold ! — his  little  mouth  began  to  work 
and  twist,  and  move  up  and  down,  and  at  last, 
with  a  great  deal  of  labor,  he  lisped  out :  "Ah, 
dearest,  best  Miss  Stahlbaum — excellent  friend, 
how  shall  I  thank  you?  No  !  no  picture-books, 
no  Christmas  frock ! — Get  me  a  sword — a  sword. 
For  the  rest,  I — "  Here  speech  left  him,  and 
his  eyes,  which  had  begun  to  express  the  deepest 
sympathy,  became  staring  and  motionless. 


104  NUTCEACKEB   AOT)   MOUSE-KDSTG. 

Maria  did  not  feel  the  least  terror ;  on  the 
contrary,  she  leaped  for  joy,  for  she  had  now 
found  a  way  to  rescue  Nutcracker  without  any 
more  painful  sacrifices.  But  where  should  she 
obtain  a  sword  for  him  ?  Maria  at  last  resolved 
to  ask  advice  of  Fred ;  and  in  the  evening,  when 
their  parents  had  gone  out,  and  they  sat  alone 
together  in  the  chamber  by  the  glass  case,  she  told 
him  all  that  had  happened  to  Nutcracker  and 
Mouse-Kino:,  and  then  becwd  him  to  furnish  the 
little  fellow  with  a  sword.  Upon  no  part  of  this 
narration  did  Fred  reflect  so  long  and  so  earnestly 
as  upon  the  poor  account  which  she  gave  him  of 
the  bravery  of  his  hussars.  He  asked  once  more 
very  seriously,  if  it  were  so.  Maria  assured  him 
of  it  upon  her  word,  when  Fred  ran  quickly  to 
the  glass  case,  addressed  his  hussars  in  a  very 
moving  speech,  and  then,  as  a  punishment  for 
their  cowardice,  cut  their  military  badges  from 
their  caps,  and  forbade  them  for  a  year  to  play 
the  Hussar's  Grand  March.   After  this,  he  turned 


NUTCKACKEK   AND   MOUSE-KING-.  105 

again  to  Maria,  and  said :  "As  to  a  sword,  I  can 
easily  supply  the  little  fellow  witli  one.  I  yester- 
day permitted  an  old  colonel  of  the  cuirassiers 
to  retire  upon  a  pension,  and  consequently  he  has 
no  farther  use  for  his  fine  sharp  sabre."  The 
aforesaid  colonel  was  living  on  the  pension  which 
Fred  had  allowed  him,  in  the  farthest  corner 
of  the  third  shelf.  He  was  brought  out,  his  fine 
silver  sabre  taken  from  him,  and  buckled  about 
Nutcracker. 

Maria  could  scarcely  get  to  sleep  that  night, 
she  was  so  anxious  and  fearful.  About  midnight, 
it  seemed  to  her  as  if  she  heard  a  strange 
rustling,  and  rattling,  and  slashing,  in  the  sitting- 
room.  All  at  once,  it  went  "  Queek !"  "  The 
Mouse-King! — the  Mouse-King!"  cried  Maria, 
and  sprang  in  her  fright  out  of  bed.  All 
was  still;  but  presently  she  heard  a  gentle 
knocking  at  the  door,  and  a  soft  voice  was 
heard:  "Worthiest,  best,  kindest  Miss  Stahl- 
baum,  open  the  door  without  fear—good  tidings !" 


106  NUTCEACKEE  AND   MOUSE-KING. 

Maria  knew  the  voice  of  the  young  Drosselmeier, 
so  she  threw  her  frock  about  her,  and  opened 
the  door.  Little  Nutcracker  stood  without, 
with  a  bloody  sword  in  his  right  hand,  and 
a  wax  taper  in  his  left.  As  soon  as  he  saw 
Maria,  he  bent  down  on  one  knee,  and  said: 
"  You,  oh  lady — you  alone  it  was,  that  filled  me 
with  knightly  courage,  and  gave  this  arm  strength 
to  contend  with  the  presumptuous  foe  who  dared 
to  disturb  your  slumber.  The  treacherous  Mouse- 
King  is  overcome  ;  he  lies  bathed  in  his  blood. 
Scorn  not  to  receive  the  tokens  of  victory  from 
a  knight  who  will  remain  devoted  to  your 
service  until  death."  With  these  words,  Nut- 
cracker took  off  the  seven  crowns  of  the  Mouse- 
King,  which  he  had  hung  upon  his  left  arm,  and 
reached  them  to  Maria,  who  received  them  with 
great  joy.  Nutcracker  then  arose,  and  said: 
"  Best,  kindest  Miss  Stahlbaum,  you  know  not 
what  beautiful  things  I  could  show  you  at  this 
moment  while  my  enemy  lies  vanquished,  if  you 


NUT-CRACKER    PROCLAIMS    HIS    VICTORY   OVER 
MOUSE    KING. 


NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING.  10? 

would  have  the  condescension  to  follow  me  for  a 
few  steps.  Oh,  will  you  not  be  so  kind  ?  will  you 
not  be  so  good,  best,  kindest  Miss  Stahlbauni  V 


THE  PUPPET  KINGDOM. 

I  believe  that  none  of  you,  children,  would 
have  hesitated  for  an  instant  to  follow  the  good, 
honest  Nutcracker,  who  could  never  have  medi- 
tated any  evil.  Maria  consented  to  follow  him, 
so  much  the  more  readily,  because  she  knew 
what  claims  she  had  upon  his  gratitude,  and 
because  she  was  convinced  that  he  would  keep 
his  word,  and  show  her  many  beautiful  things. 
"  I  will  go  with  you,  Master  Drosselmeier,"  she 
said ;  "  but  it  must  not  be  far,  and  it  must  not  be 
long,  for  as  yet  I  have  hardly  had  any  sleep." 

"I  will  choose,  then,"  replied  Nutcracker, 
the  nearest,  though  a  more  difficult  way."  He 
went  onward,  and  Maria  followed  him,  until  he 


108  3STJTCE ACKER   &KD   MOUSE-KING. 

stopped  before  a  large,  antique  wardrobe,  which 
stood  in  the  hall.  Maria  perceived,  to  her 
astonishment,  that  the  doors  of  this  wardrobe, 
which  were  always  kept  locked,  now  stood  wide 
open,  so  that  she  could  see  her  father's  fox- 
furred  travelling  coat,  which  huns;  in  front. 
Nutcracker  clambered  very  nimbly  up  by  the 
carved  figures  and  ornaments,  until  he  could 
grasp  the  large  tassel  which  hung  down  the 
back  of  the  coat,  and  was  fastened  to  it  by  a 
thick  cord.  As  soon  as  Nutcracker  pulled  upon 
the  tassel,  a  neat  little  stairs  of  cedar-wood 
stretched  down  from  the  sleeve  of  the  travelling;- 
coat  to  the  floor.  "Ascend,  if  you  please,  dearest 
Miss,"  cried  Nutcracker.  Maria  did  so;  but 
scarcely  had  she  gone  up  the  sleeve — scarcely 
had  she  seen  her  way  out  at  the  collar,  when  a 
dazzling  light  broke  forth  upon  her,  and  all  at 
once  she  stood  upon  a  sweet-smelling  meadow, 
surrounded  by  millions  of  sparks,  which  darted 
up  like  flashing  jewels.     "We  are  now  upon 


NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING.  109 

Candy  Meadow,"  said  Nutcracker;  "but  we 
will  directly  pass  through,  yonder  gate."  When 
Maria  looked  up,  she  saw  the  beautiful  gate, 
which  stood  a  few  steps  before  them  upon  the 
meadow.  It  seemed  built  of  variegated  marble, 
of  white,  brown,  and  raisin  color;  but  when 
Maria  came  nearer,  she  perceived  that  the  whole 
mass  consisted  of  sugar,  almonds  and  raisins, 
kneaded  and  baked  together,  for  which  reason 
the  gate,  as  Nutcracker  assured  her  when  they 
passed  through  it,  was  called  the  Almond  and 
Raisin  fGate.  Upon  a  gallery  built  over  the 
gate,  made  apparently  of  barley-sugar,  there 
were  six  apes,  in  red  jackets,  who  struck  up 
the  finest  Turkish  music  which  was  ever  heard, 
so  that  Maria  scarcely  observed  that  they 
were  walking  onward  and  onward,  over  a  rich 
mosaic,  which  was  nothing  else  than  a  pavement 
of  nicely-inlaid  lozenges.  Very  soon  the  sweetest 
odors  streamed  around  them,  which  were  wafted 
from  a  wonderful  little  wood,  that  opened  on 


110  NUTCEACKEE   AND   MOUSE-KING-. 

eacli  side  before  theni.  There  it  shone  and 
sparkled  so,  among  the  dark  leaves,  that  the 
golden  and  silvery  fruit  could  plainly  be  seen 
hanging  from  their  gayly-colored  stems,  while 
the  trunks  and  branches  were  ornamented  with 
ribbons  and  nosegays ;  and  when  the  orange 
perfume  stirred  and  moved  like  a  soft  breeze, 
how  it  rustled  anions  the  boughs  and  leaves, 
and  the  golden  fruit  rocked  and  rattled  in  merry 
music,  to  which  the  bright,  dancing  sparkles 
kept  time !  uAh,  how  delightful  it  is  here  P 
cried  Maria,  entranced  in  happiness. 

"  We  are  in  Christmas  Wood,  best  miss," 
said  Nutcracker. 

"  Ah,  if  I  could  but  linger  here  a  while," 
cried  Maria.     "  Oh,  it  is  too,  too  charming !" 

Nutcracker    clapped   his   hands,    and   some 

little  shepherds  and  shepherdesses,  and  hunters 

and  huntresses  came  near,  who  were  so  delicate 

kand  white,  that  they  seemed  made  of  pure  sugar. 

They  brought  a  dainty  little  arm-chair,  all  of 


NUTCEACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING.  Ill 

gold,  laid  upon  it  a  green  cushion  of  candied 
citron,  and  invited  Maria  very  politely  to  sit 
down.  She  did  so,  and  immediately  the  shep- 
herds and  shepherdesses  danced  a  very  pretty 
ballet,  while  the  hunters  very  obligingly  blew 
their  horns,  and  then  all  disappeared  again  in 
the  bushes.  "  Pardon,  pardon,  kindest  Miss 
Stahlbaum,"  said  Nutcracker,  "  the  dance  was 
miserably  performed,  but  the  people  all  belong 
to  our  company  of  wire  dancers,  and  they  can 
do  nothing  but  the  same,  same  thing ;  they  are 
deficient  in  variety.  And  the  hunters  blew  so 
dull  and  lazily — but  shall  we  not  walk  a  little 
farther?" 

"  Ah,  it  was  all  very  pretty,  and  pleased  me 
very  much,"  said  Maria,  as  she  rose,  and  follow- 
ed Nutcracker. 

They  now  walked  along  by  a  soft,  rustling 
brook,  out  of  which  all  the  sweet  perfumes 
seemed  to  arise  which  filled  the  whole  wood. 
"  This  is  the  Orange  Brook,"  said  Nutcracker, 


112  NUTCEACKEE   AKD    MOUSE-KING. 

"  but  its  fine  perfume  excepted,  it  cannot  com- 
pare either  in  size  or  beauty  with  Lemonade 
Kiver,  which  like  it  empties  into  Orgeat  Lake." 
In  fact  Maria  very  soon  heard  a  louder  rustling 
and  dashing,  and  then  beheld  the  broad  Lemon- 
ade  Eiver,  which  rolled  in  proud  cream-colored 
billows,  between  banks  covered  with  bright 
green  bushes.  A  refreshing  coolness  arose  out 
of  its  noble  waves. 

Not  far  off,  a  dark  yellow  stream  dragged 
itself  lazily  along,  but  it  gave  forth  a  very  sweet 
odor,  and  a  great  number  of  little  children  sat 
on  the  shore  angling  for  little  fish,  which  they 
ate  up  as  soon  as  caught.  When  Maria  came 
nearer  she  observed  that  these  fish  were  shaped 
almost  like  peanuts.  At  a  distance  there  was  a 
very  neat  little  village,  on  the  borders  of  this 
stream ;  houses,  churches,  parsonages,  barns, 
were  all  dark  brown,  but  many  of  the  roofs 
were  gilded,  and  some  of  the  walls  were  painted 
so  strangely,  that  it  seemed  as  if  little  sugar- 


NUTCRACKEB   AND   MOUSE-KING.  113 

plums  and  bits  of  citron  were  stuck  upon  them. 
"That  is  Gingerbreadville,"  said  Nutcracker, 
"  which  lies  on  Molasses  River.  Very  pretty- 
people  live  in  it,  but  they  are  a  little  ill-tem- 
pered, because  they  suffer  a  good  deal  from  the 
toothache,  and  so  we  will  not  visit  it." 

At  this  moment  Maria  observed  a  little  town 
in  which  the  houses  were  clear  and  transparent, 
and  of  different  colors,  which  was  a  very  pretty 
si^ht  to  look  at.  Nutcracker  went  straight  for- 
ward  towards  it,  and  now  Maria  heard  a  busy, 
merry  clatter,  and  saw  a  thousand  tiny  little 
figures,  collected  around  some  heavily  laden 
wagons,  which  had  stopped  in  the  market. 
These  they  unloaded,  and  what  they  took  out 
looked  like  sheets  of  colored  paper  and  choco- 
late cakes.  "We  are  now  in  Bonbon  Town," 
said  Nutcracker.  "  An  importation  has  just  ar- 
rived from  Paper  Land,  and  from  King  Choco- 
late. The  poor  people  of  Bonbon  Town  are 
often  terribly  threatened  by  the  armies  of  Gene- 


114  NTTTCE ACKER    AND   MOTISE-EXNTG. 

rals  Fly  and  Gnat,  for  which  reason  they  fortify 
their  houses  with  stout  materials  from  Paper 
Land,  and  throw  up  fortifications  of  the  strong 
bulwarks,  which  King  Chocolate  sends  to  them. 
But,  worthiest  Miss  Stahlbaum,  we  will  not  visit 
all  the  little  towns  and  villages  of  this  land.  To 
the  capital — to  the  capital  I1' 

Nutcracker  hastened  forward,  and  Maria  fol- 
lowed full  of  curiosity.  It  was  not  long  before 
a  sweet  odor  of  roses  enveloped  them,  and  every 
thing  around  was  touched  with  a  soft  rose-color- 
ed  tint.  Maria  soon  observed  that  this  was  the 
reflection  of  the  red  glancing  lake,  which  rustled 
and  danced  before  them,  with  charming  and 
melodious  tones  in  little  rosy  waves.  Beautiful 
silver-white  swans  with  golden  collars,  swam 
over  the  lake  sinoin^  sweet  tunes,  while  little 
diamond  fish  dipped  up  and  down  in  the  rosy 
water,  as  if  in  the  merriest  dance.  "  Ah,"  ex- 
claimed Maria,  ardently,  "  this  is  then  the  lake 
which  Godfather  Drosselmeier  was  once  going 


NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING.  115 

to  make  for  me,  and  I  myself  am  the  maiden, 
who  is  to  fondle  and  caress  the  dear  swans." 
Nutcracker  laughed  in  a  scornful  manner, 

O  7 

such  as  Maria  had  never  observed  in  him  before, 
and  then  said :  "  Godfather  Drosselmeier  can 
never  make  any  thing  like  this.  You — you 
yourself,  rather,  sweetest  Miss  Stahlbaum — but 
we  will  not  trouble  our  heads  about  that.  Let 
us  sail  across  the  Rose  Lake  to  the  capital." 


THE  CAPITAL. 

Nutcracker  clapped  his  little  hands  together 
again,  when  the  Rose  Lake  began  to  dash  louder, 
the  waves  rolled  higher,  and  Maria  perceived  a 
car  of  shells,  covered  with  bright,  sparkling, 
gay-colored  jewels,  moving  toward  them  in  the 
distance,  drawn  by  two  golden-scaled  dolphins. 
Twelve  of  the  loveliest  little  Moors,  with  caps 
and  aprons  braided  of  humming-bird's  feathers, 


116  NTTTCEACKEE   AINTD   MOtJSE-KESTG. 

leaped  upon  the  shore,  and  carried,  first  Marin, 
and  then  Nutcracker,  with  a  soft,  gliding  step, 
over  the  waves,  and  placed  them  in  the  car, 
which  straightway  began  to  move  across  the 
lake.  Ah,  how  delightful  it  was  as  Maria  sailed 
along,  with  the  rosy  air  and  the  rosy  waves 
breathing  and  dashing  around  her !  The  two 
golden-scaled  dolphins  raised  up  their  heads, 
and  spouted  clear,  crystal  streams  out  of  their 
nostrils,  high,  high  in  the  air,  which  fell  down 
again  in  a  thousand  quivering,  flashing  rainbows, 
and  it  seemed  as  if  two  small  silver  voices  sans: 
out:  "Who  sails  upon  the  rosy  lake?  The 
little  fairy — awake,  awake !  Music  and  song — 
bim-bim,  fishes — sim-sim,  swans — tweet-tweet, 
birds  —  whiz- whiz,  breezes  !  —  rustling:,  linain^, 
singing,  blowing ! — a  faiiy  o'er  the  waves  is 
going!  Rosy  billows,  murmuring,  playing, 
dashing,  cooling  the  air ! — roll  along,  along." 

But  the  sin^in^  of  the  falling  fountains  did 
not   seem   to   please   the   twelve   little   Moors, 


NUTCEACKEß    AIsTD    MOUSE-KING.  117 

who  were  seated  up  behind  the  car,  for  they 
shook  their  parasols  so  hard  that  the  palm-leaves 
of  which  they  were  made  rattled  and  clattered, 
and  they  stamped  with  their  feet  in  very  strange 
time,  and  sang,  "  Klapp  and  klipp,  and  klipp  and 
klapp,  backward  and  forward,  up  and  down!" 
"  Moors  are  a  merry  folk,"  said  Nutcracker, 
somewhat  disturbed,"  but  they  will  make  the 
whole  lake  rebellious."  And  very  soon  there 
arose  a  confused  din  of  strange  voices,  which 
seemed  to  float  in  the  sea  and  in  the  air ;  but 
Maria  did  not  heed  them,  for  she  was  gazing  in 
the  sweet-scented,  rosy  waves,  out  of  which  the 
face  of  a  charming  little  maiden  smiled  up  upon 
her.  "Ah!"  she  cried  joyfully,  and  struck 
her  hands  together.  "  Look,  look,  dear  Master 
Drosselmeier !  There  is  the  Princess  Pirlipat 
down  in  the  water !  Oh,  how  sweetly  she 
smiles  upon  me !" 

Nutcracker   sighed   quite   sorrowfully,    and 
said :  "  Oh,  kindest  Miss  Stahlbaum,  that  is  not 


118  NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING. 

the  Princess  Pirlipat — it  is  you,  you — it  is  your 
own  lovely  face  that  smiles  so  sweetly  out  of  the 
Rose  Lake."  Upon  this,  Maria  drew  her  head 
back  very  quickly,  put  her  hands  before  her 
face,  and  blushed  very  much.  At  this  moment, 
she  was  lifted  out  of  the  car  by  the  twelve 
Moors,  and  carried  to  the  shore.  They  now 
found  themselves  in  a  little  thicket,  which  was 
perhaps  more  beautiful  even  than  the  Christmas 
Wood,  it  was  so  bright  and  sparkling.  What 
was  most  wonderful  in  it  were  the  strange  fruits 
that  hung  upon  the  trees,  which  were  not  only 
curiously  colored,  but  gave  out  also  every  kind 
of  sweet  odor.  "  We  are  in  Sweetmeat  Grove," 
said  Nutcracker,  "  but  yonder  is  the  Capital." 

And  what  a  sight!  How  can  I  venture, 
children,  to  describe  the  beauty  and  splendor 
of  the  city  which  now  displayed  itself  to  Maria's 
eyes,  upon  the  broad,  flowery  meadow  before 
them?  Not  only  did  the  walls  and  towers 
glitter  with  the  gayest   colors,  but  the  style 


NUTCRACKER    AND    MOUSE-KING.  119 

of  tlie  buildings  was  like  nothing  else  that  is  to 
be  found  in  the  world.  Instead  of  roofs,  the 
houses  had  diadems  set  upon  them,  braided  and 
twisted  in  the  daintiest  manner ;  and  the  towers 
were  crowned  with  variegated  trellis-work,  and 
hung  with  festoons  the  most  beautiful  that  ever 
were  seen.  As  they  passed  through  the  gate, 
which  looked  as  if  it  were  built  of  macaroons 
and  candied  fruits,  silver  soldiers  presented  arms, 
and  a  little  man  in  a  brocade  dressing-gown 
threw  himself  upon  Nutcracker's  neck,  with  the 
words :  "  Welcome,  best  prince !  welcome  to 
Confectionville !" 

Maria  was  not  a  little  astonished  to  hear 
young  Drosselmeier  called  a  prince  by  such  a 
distinguished  man.  But  she  now  heard  such 
a  hubbub  of  little  voices,  such  a  huzzaing  and 
laughter,  such  a  singing  and  playing,  that  she 
could  think  of  nothing  else,  and  turned  to  Nut- 
cracker to  ask  him  what  it  all  meant.  "  Oh, 
worthiest  Miss  Stahlbaum,  it  is  nothing  uncom- 


120  NUTCRACKER   AND    MOUSE-KING. 

mon.  Confectionville  is  a  populous  and  merry 
city ;  thus  it  goes  here  every  day.  Let  us  walk 
farther,  if  you  please." 

They  had  only  gone  a  few  steps,  when  they 
came  to  the  great  market-place,  which  presented 
a  wonderful  sight.  All  the  houses  around  were 
of  sugared  filagree  work;  gallery  was  built 
over  gallery,  and  in  the  middle  stood  a  tall 
obelisk  of  white  and  red  sugared  cream,  while 
four  curious,  sweet  fountains  played  in  the  air, 
of  orgeat,  lemonade,  mead,  and  soda-water,  and 
in  the  great  basin  were  soft  bruised  fruits,  mixed 
with  sugar  and  cream,  and  touched  a  little 
by  the  frost. 

But  prettier  than  all  this  were  the  charming 
little  people,  who,  by  thousands,  pushed  and 
squeezed,  knocked  their  heads  together,  huzzaed, 
laughed,  jested,  and  sang — who  had  raised  indeed 
that  merry  din  which  Maria  had  heard  at  a 
distance.  Here  were  beautifully-dressed  men 
and  women,  Armenians  and  Greeks,  Jews  and 


NUTCEACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING.  121 

Tyrolese,  officers  and  soldiers,  preachers,  shep- 
herds, and  harlequins — in  short,  all  the  people 
that  can  possibly  be  found  in  the  world.  On 
one  corner  the  tumult  increased;  the  people 
rocked  and  reeled  to  clear  the  way,  for  just  at 
that  moment  the  Grand  Mogul  was  carried  by  in 
a  palanquin,  attended  by  ninety-three  grandees 
of  the  kingdom,  and  seven  hundred  slaves. 
Now,  on  the  opposite  corner,  the  fishermen,  five 
hundred  strong,  were  marching  in  procession; 
and  it  happened,  very  unfortunately,  that  the 
Grand  Turk  took  it  into  his  head  just  then  to 
ride  over  the  market-place  with  three  thousand 
Janissaries,  besides  which  a  loner  train  came  from 
the  Festival  of  Sacrifices,  with  sounding  music, 
singing :  "  Up,  and  thank  the  mighty  sun  !"  and 
pushed  straight  on  for  the  obelisk.  Then  what  a 
squeezing,  and  a  pushing,  and  a  rattling,  and  a 
clattering.  By  and  by,  a  screaming  was  heard, 
for  a  fisherman  had  knocked  off  a  Brahmin's 
head  in  the  crowd,  and  the  Great  Mogul  was 


122  NUTCIIACKER   AND    MOUSE-KING. 

almost  run  over  by  a  Harlequin.  The  tumult 
grew  wilder  and  wilder,  and  they  had  com- 
menced to  beat  and  strike  each  other,  when  the 
man  in  the  brocade  dressing-gown,  who  had 
called  Nutcracker  a  prince  at  the  gate,  clam- 
bered up  by  the  obelisk,  and  having  thrice 
pulled  a  little  bell,  called  out  three  times: 
"Confiseur!  confiseur!  confiseur!" 

The  tumult  was  immediately  appeased ;  each 
one  tried  to  help  himself  as  well  as  he  could ; 
and,  after  the  confused  trains  and  processions 
were  set  in  order,  and  the  dirt  upon  the  Great 
Mogul's  clothes  was  brushed  off,  and  the  Brah- 
min's head  put  on  again,  the  former  hubbub 
began  anew.  "  What  do  they  mean  by  (  Con- 
fiseur,' good  Master  Drosselmeier  V  asked  Maria. 

"Ah,  best  Miss  Stahlbaum,"  replied  Nut- 
cracker, "by  '  Confiseur'  is  meant  an  unknown 
but  very  fearful  power,  which  they  believe  can 
do  with  them  as  he  pleases;  it  is  the  Fate 
that   rules  over  this   merry  little   people,  and 


NUTCRACKER    AND    MOUSE-KING.  123 

they  fear  it  so  much,  that  the  mere  mention 
of  the  name  is  able  to  still  the  greatest  tumult. 
Each  one  then  thinks  no  longer  of  any  thing 
earthly — of  cuffs,  and  kicks,  and  broken  heads, 
but  retires  within  himself,  and  says :  i  What  are 
we,  and  what  is  our  destiny  V  " 

Maria  could  not  refrain  from  a  loud  exclama- 
tion of  surprise  and  wonder,  as  all  at  once  they 
stood  before  a  castle  glimmering  with  rosy  light, 
and  crowned  with  a  hundred  airy  towers.  Beau- 
tiful nosegays  of  violets,  narcissuses,  tulips,  and 
dahlias,  were  hung  about  the  walls,  and  their 
dark,  glowing  colors  only  heightened  the  dazzling, 
rose-tinted,  white  ground  upon  which  they  were 
fastened.  The  large  cupola  of  the  centre  building 
and  the  sloping  roofs  of  the  towers  were  spangled 
with  a  thousand  gold  and  silver  stars.  "We 
are  now  in  front  of  Marchpane  Castle,"  said 
Nutcracker.  Maria  was  completely  lost  in  ad- 
miration of  this  magic  palace,  yet  it  did  not 
escape  her  that  one  of  the  large  towers  was 


124:  NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING. 

without  a  roof,  while  little  men  were  moving 
around  it  upon  a  scaffolding  of  cinnamon,  as 
if  busied  in  repairing  it.  But  before  she  had 
time  to  inquire  about  it,  Nutcracker  continued : 
"  Not  long  ago,  this  beautiful  castle  was  threatened 
with  serious  injury,  if  not  with  entire  destruction. 
The  Giant  Sweet-tooth  came  this  way,  and  bit 
off  the  roof  of  yonder  tower,  and  was  gnawing 
upon  the  great  cupola,  when  the  people  of  Con- 
fection ville  gave  up  to  him  a  full  quarter  of  the 
city,  and  a  considerable  portion  of  Sweetmeat 
Grove,  as  tribute,  with  which  he  contented  him- 
self, and  went  his  way." 

At  this  moment  soft  music  was  heard,  the 
doors  of  the  palace  opened,  and  twelve  little 
pages  marched  out  with  lighted  cloves,  which 
they  carried  in  their  hands  like  torches.  Each 
of  their  heads  was  a  pearl;  their  bodies  were 
made  of  rubies  and  emeralds ;  and  they  walked 
upon  feet  cast  out  of  pure  gold.  Four  ladies 
followed  them,  almost  as  tall  as  Maria's  Clara, 


NUTCEACKEE   AND    MOUSE-KING.  125 

but  so  richly  and  splendidly  dressed,  that  she 
saw  in  a  moment  that  they  were  princesses  born. 
They  embraced  Nutcracker  in  the  tenderest 
manner,  and  cried  with  joyful  sobs :  "  Oh,  my 
prince,  my  best  prince !     Oh,  my  brother  1" 

Nutcracker  seemed  very  much  moved;  he 
wiped  the  tears  out  of  his  eyes ;  then  took  Maria 
by  the  hand,  and  said  with  great  emotion: 
"This  is  Miss  Maria  Stahlbaum,  the  daughter 
of  a  much-respected  and  very  worthy  physician, 
and  she  is  the  preserver  of  my  life.  Had  she 
not  thrown  her  shoe  at  the  right  time — had  she 
not  supplied  me  with  the  sword  of  a  pensioned 
colonel,  I  should  now  be  lying  in  my  grave,  torn 
and  bitten  to  pieces  by  the  terrible  Mouse- 
King.  View  her — gaze  upon  her,  and  tell  me, 
if  Pirlipat,  although  a  princess  by  birth,  can 
compare  with  her  in  beauty,  goodness,  and 
virtue  ?     No,  I  say  no  I" 

And  all  the  ladies  cried  out  "  No !"  and 
then  fell  upon  Maria's  neck,  exclaiming:    "Ah, 


126  NUTCRACKER   AKD   MOUSE-KXN"G. 

clear  preserver  of  the  prince,  our  beloved  brother ! 
charming  Miss  Maria  Stahlbaum !"  She  now  ac- 
companied  these  ladies  and  Nutcracker  into  the 
castle,  and  entered  a  room,  the  walls  of  which 
were  of  bright,  colored  crystal.  But  of  all  the 
beautiful  things  which  Maria  saw  here,  what 
pleased  her  most  were  the  nice  little  chairs, 
sofas,  secretaries,  and  bureaus,  with  which  the 
room  was  furnished,  and  which  were  all  made 
of  cedar  or  Brazil-wood,  and  ornamented  with 
golden  flowers.  The  princesses  made  Maria  and 
Nutcracker  sit  down,  and  said  that  they  would 
immediately  prepare  something  for  them  to  eat. 
They  then  brought  out  a  great  many  little  cups 
and  saucers,  and  plates  and  dishes,  all  of  the 
finest  porcelain,  and  spoons,  knives,  and  forks, 
graters,  kettles,  pans,  and  other  kitchen  furniture, 
all  of  gold  and  silver. 

Then  they  brought  the  finest  fruits  and 
sugar-things,  such  as  Maria  had  never  seen  before, 
and  began  in  the  nicest  manner  to  squeeze  the 


NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING.  127 

fruits  with  their  little  snow-white  hands,  and  to 
pound  the  spice,  and  grate  the  sugar-almonds,  in 
short,  so  to  turn  and  handle  every  thing,  that 
Maria  could  see  how  well  the  princesses  had 
been  brought  up,  and  what  a  delicious  meal  they 
were  preparing.  As  she  desired  very  much  to 
learn  stich  things,  she  could  not  help  wishing  to 
herself  that  she  might  assist  the  princesses  in 
their  labor.  The  most  beautiful  of  Nutcracker's 
sisters,  as  if  she  had  guessed  Maria's  secret 
thoughts,  reached  her  a  little  golden  mortar, 
saying :  "  Oh,  sweet  friend,  dear  preserver  of  my 
brother,  will  you  not  pound  a  little  of  this  sugar- 
candy  V 

While  Maria  pounded  in  the  mortar,  Nut- 
cracker began  to  give  a  full  account  of  his 
adventures,  of  the  dreadful  battle  between  his 
army  and  that  of  the  Mouse-King,  and  how  he 
had  lost  it  by  the  cowardice  of  his  troops ;  how 
the  terrible  Mouse-King  lay  in  wait  to  bite  him 
in  pieces,  and  how  Maria,  to  preserve  him,  gave 


128  NUTCEACKEE   AND   MOUSE-KIXG. 

up  many  of  his  subjects,  who  had  entered  her 
service,  and  all  just  as  it  had  happened.  During 
this  narration,  it  seemed  to  Maria,  as  if  his 
words  became  less  and  less  audible,  and  the 
pounding  of  her  mortar  also  sounded  more  and 
more  distant,  until  she  could  scarcely  hear  it; 
presently,  she  saw  a  silver  gauze  before  her,  in 
which  the  princesses,  the  pages,  Nutcracker,  and 
herself,  too,  were  all  enveloped.  A  singular 
humming,  and  rustling,  and  singing  was  heard, 
which  seemed  to  die  away  in  the  distance ;  and 
now  Maria  was  raised  up,  as  if  upon  mounting 
waves,  higher  and  higher — higher  and  higher — 
higher  and  higher ! 


THE   CONCLUSION. 

Pee — puff  it  went !  Maria  fell  down  from 
an  immeasurable  height.  That  was  a  fall !  But 
she  opened  her  eyes,  and  there  she  lay  upon  her 


NUTCEACKEE   AND   MOUSE-KING.  129 

little  bed ;  it  was  bright  clay,  and  lier  mother 
stood  by  her,  saying:  "How  can  you  sleep 
so  long?  breakfast  has  been  ready  this  great 
while."  You  now  perceive,  kind  readers  and 
listeners,  that  Maria,  completely  confused  by 
the  wonderful  things  which  she  had  seen,  had  at 
last  fallen  asleep  in  the  room  at  Marchpane 
Castle,  and  that  the  Moors,  or  the  pages,  or 
perhaps  even  the  princesses  themselves  must 
have  carried  her  home,  and  laid  her  softly  in 
bed..  "  Oh,  mother,  dear  mother,  you  cannot 
think  where  young  Master  Drosselmeier  led 
me  last  night,  and  what  beautiful  things  I  have 
seen !"  And  then  she  began  and  told  the  whole, 
almost  as  accurately  as  I  have  related  it,  while 
her  mother  listened  in  astonishment. 

When  she  had  finished,  her  mother  said: 
"  You  have  had  a  long  and  very  beautiful  dream, 
but  now  drive  it  all  out  of  your  head."  Maria 
insisted  upon  it  that  she  had  not  dreamed,  but 
had  actually  seen  what  she  had  related,  when 
9 


130  NUTCRACKER   AND    MOUSE-KING. 

her  mother  led  her  into  the  sitting-room,  to 
the  glass  case ;  took  Nutcracker  out,  who  was 
standing,  as  usual,  irpon  the  second  shelf,  and 
said:  "Silly  child,  how  can  you  believe  that 
this  wooden.  Nuremberg  puppet  can  have  life  or 
motion  V 

"  But,  dear  mother,"  replied  Maria,  "  I  know 
little  Nutcracker  is  young  Master  Drosselmeier, 
of  Nuremberg,  Godfather  Drosselmeier's  nephew." 
Then  her  father  and  mother  both  laughed  very 
heartily.  "Ah,  dear  father,"  said  Maria,  almost 
crying,  "you  should  not  laugh  so  at  my  Nut- 
cracker ;  he  has  spoken  very  well  of  you ;  for 
when  we  entered  Marchpane  Castle,  and  he 
presented  me  to  his  sisters,  the  princesses,  he 
said  that  you  were  a  much  respected  and  very 
worthy  physician."  At  this  the  laughter  was 
still  louder,  and  Louise,  and  even  Fred,  joined 
in.  Maria  then  ran  into  the  other  chamber, 
took  the  seven  crowns  of  the  Mouse-Kino-  out 
of  her  little  box,  brought  them  in,  and  handed 


NTJTCEACKEß   AND    MOUSE-KING.  131 

tliem  to  her  mother,  saying:  "See  here,  dear 
mother,  here  are  the  seven  srowns  of  the  Mouse- 
King,  which  young  Master  Drosselmeier  gave  me 
last  night,  as  a  token  of  his  victory."  Her  mother 
examined  the  little  crowns  in  great  astonish- 
ment; they  were  made  of  a  strange  but  very 
shining  metal,  and  were  so  delicately  worked, 
that  it  seemed  impossible  that  mortal  hands 
could  have  formed  them.  Her  father,  likewise, 
could  not  gaze  enough  at  them,  and  he  insisted 
very  seriously  that  Maria  should  confess  how  she 
obtained  them.  But  she  could  give  no  other 
account  of  them,  and  kept  firm  to  what  she  had 
said ;  and,  as  her  father  spoke  very  harshly  to 
her,  and  even  called  her  a  little  story-teller,  she 
began  to  cry  bitterly,  and  said:  "Oh,  what, 
what  then  shall  I  say  V 

At  this  moment  the  door  opened.  The 
Counsellor  entered,  and  exclaimed:  "What's 
this  ?  what's  this  F  The  doctor  told  him  of  all 
that  had  happened,  and  showed  him  the  little 


lö:3  NUTCRACKER   AND    MOUSE-KING. 

crowns.  As  soon  as  the  Counsellor  cast  his 
eyes  on  them,  he  laughed  and  cried :  "  Stupid 
pack — stupid  pack !  These  are  the  very  crowns 
which  I  used  to  wear  on  my  watch-chain,  years 
ago,  and  which  I  gave  to  little  Maria,  on  her 
"birthday,  when  she  was  two  years  old.  Don't 
you  remember  them  ?"  Neither  father  nor  mother 
could  remember  them ;  but  when  Maria  saw 
that  her  parents  had  forgotten  their  anger,  she 
ran  to  Godfather  Drosselmeier,  and  said :  "Ah, 
you  know  all  about  it,  Godfather  Drosselmeier. 
Tell  them  yourself,  that  my  Nutcracker  is  your 
nephew,  young  Master  Drosselmeier,  of  Nurem- 
berg, and  that  it  was  he  who  gave  me  the 
crowns !" 

The  Counsellor's  face  turned  very  dark  and 
grave,  and  he  muttered :  "  Stupid  pack — stupid 
pack !"  Upon  this,  the  doctor  took  little  Maria 
upon  his  knee,  and  said  very  seriously :  "  Listen 
to  me,  Maria.  Once  for  all,  drive  your  foolish 
dreams  and  nonsense  out  of  your  head.     If  I 


NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING.  133 

ever  hear  you  say  again,  that  the  silly,  ugly 
Nutcracker  is  the  nephew  of  your  Godfather 
Drosselmeier,  I  will  throw  him  out  of  the  win- 
clow,  and  all  the  rest  of  your  puppets,  Miss  Clara 
not  excepted." 

Poor  Maria  durst  not  now  speak  of  all  these 
wonders,  but  she  thought  so  much  the  more. 
Her  whole  soul  was  full  of  them  ;  for  you  may 
imagine,  that  things  so  fine  and  beautiful  as  those 
which  she  had  seen  are  not  easily  forgotten.  Even 
Fred  turned  his  back  upon  his  sister,  whenever 
she  spoke  of  the  wonderful  kingdom  in  which 
she  had  been  so  happy;  and,  it  is  said,  that 
he  sometimes  would  mutter  between  his  teeth : 
"  Silly  goose  !"  But  that  I  can  hardly  believe 
of  so  amiable  and  good-natured  a  fellow.  This 
is  certain,  however,  he  no  longer  believed  a 
word  of  what  Maria  had  told  him.  He  made  a 
formal  apology  to  his  hussars,  on  public  parade, 
for  the  injustice  which  he  had  done  them;  stuck 
in  their  caps  feathers  of  goose-quill,  much  finer 


134  NUTCRACKER   AND    MOUSE-KINO. 

and  taller  than  those  of  which  they  had  been 
deprived;  and  permitted  them  again  to  blow 
the  Hussar's  Grand  March.  Ah,  ha  !  we  know 
best  how  it  stood  with  their  courage,  when  those 
hateful  balls  spotted  their  red  coats ! 

Maria  was  not  allowed,  then,  to  speak  any 
more  of  her  adventures,  but  the  images  of  that 
wonderful  fairy  kingdom  played  about  her  in 
sweet,  rustling  tones.  She  could  bring  them  all 
back  again,  whenever  she  fixed  her  thoughts 
steadfastly  upon  them,  and  hence  it  came,  that, 
instead  of  playing,  as  she  formerly  did,  she  would 
sit   silent  and   thoughtful,  musing  within  her- 

O  7  O 

self,  for  which  reason  the  rest  would  often  scold 
her,  and  call  her  a  little  dreamer.  Some  time 
after  this,  it  happened  that  the  Counsellor  was 
busy,  repairing  a  clock  in  Doctor  Stahlbaum's 
house.  Maria  sat  close  by  the  glass  case,  and, 
lost  in  her  dreams,  was  gazing  at  Nutcracker, 
when  the  words  broke  from  her  lips  involuntarily  : 
"Ah,  dear  Master  Drosselmeier,  if  you  actually 


NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE  -KING-.  135 

were  living,  I  would  not  behave  like  Princess 
Piriipat,  and  slight  you,  because  for  my  sake 
you  had  ceased  to  be  a  handsome  young 
man !" 

At  this,  the  Counsellor  screamed:  "Hey — - 
hey — stupid  pack!"  Then  there  was  a  clap, 
and  a  knock,  so  loud,  that  Maria  sank  from 
her  chair  in  a  swoon.  When  she  came  to  her- 
self, her  mother  was  busied  about  her,  and 
said :  "  How  came  such  a  great  girl  to  fall  from 
her  chair?  Here  is  Godfather  Drosselmeier's 
nephew,  just  arrived  from  Nuremberg !  Come 
■ — behave  like  a  little  woman  I" 

She  looked  up ;  the  Counsellor  had  put  on 
his  glass  wig  again,  and  his  brown  coat ;  he  was 
smiling  very  pleasantly,  and  he  held  by  the  hand 
a  little  but  very  well-shaped  young  man.  His 
face  was  as  white  as  milk,  and  as  red  as  blood ; 
he  wore  a  handsome  red  coat,  trimmed  with 
gold,  and  shoes  and  white  silk  stockings ;  in  his 
button-hole  was  stuck  a  nosegay ;   his  hair  was 


136  NUTCRACKER   AND   MOUSE-KING. 

nicely  powdered  and  curled ;  and  down  his  back 
there  hnng  a  magnificent  queue.  The  sword  by 
his  side  seemed  to  be  made  of  nothing  but  jewels, 
it  flashed  and  sparkled  so  brightly,  and  the 
little  hat  which  he  carried  under  his  arm  looked 
as  if  it  were  overlaid  with  soft,  silken  flakes.  It 
very  soon  appeared  how  polite  and  well-bred 
the  young  man  was,  for  he  had  brought  Maria 
a  great  many  handsome  playthings — the  nicest 
gingerbread,  and  the  same  sugar  figures  which 
the  Mouse-King  had  bitten  to  pieces ;  and  for 
Fred  he  had  brought  a  splendid  sabre.  At  table, 
the  little  fellow  cracked  nuts  for  the  whole  com- 
pany— the  hardest  could  not  resist  him;  with 
the  right  hand  he  put  them  in  his  mouth  ;  with 
the  left,  he  pulled  hard  upon  his  queue,  and — 
crack — the  nut  fell  in  pieces !  Maria  had  turned 
very  red  when  she  first  saw  the  handsome  young 
man ;  and  she  became  still  redder,  when,  after 
dinner,  young  Drosselmeier  invited  her  to  go 
with  him  into  the  sitting-room  to  the  glass  case. 


NUTCKACKEE   AND   MOUSE-KING.  137 

"  Play  prettily  together,  children ;  I  have  nothing 
against  it,  since  all  my  clocks  are  going,"  cried 
the  Counsellor. 

Scarcely  was  Maria  alone  with  young  Dros- 
sehneier,  when  he  stooped  upon  one  knee,  and 
said  :  "  Oh,  my  very  best  Miss  Stahlbaum,  you 
see  here  at  your  feet  the  happy  Drosselmeier, 
whose  life  you  saved  on  this  very  spot.  You 
said  most  amiably,  that  you  would  not  slight 
me,  like  the  hateful  Princess  Pirlipat,  if  I  had 
become  ugly  for  your  sake.  From  that  moment, 
I  ceased  to  be  a  miserable  Nutcracker,  and 
resumed  again  my  old — and,  I  hope,  not  dis- 
agreeable— figure.  Oh,  excellent  Miss  Stahl- 
bauni,  make  me  happy  with  your  dear  hand; 
share  with  me  crown  and  kingdom ;  rule  with 
me  in  Marchpane  Castle,  for  there  I  am  still 
king !" 

Maria  raised  the  youth,  and  said  softly: 
"Dear  Master  Drosselmeier,  you  are  a  kind, 
good-natured  young  man;    and,  since  you  rule 


138  NUTCRACKER  AND   MOUSE-KING. 

in  such  a  charming  land,  among  such  pretty, 
merry  people,  I  will  be  your  bride."  With 
this,  Maria  immediately  became  Drosselmeier's 
betrothed  bride. 

After  a  year  and  a  day,  he  came,  as  I  have 
heard,  and  carried  her  away  in  a  golden  chariot, 
drawn  by  silver  horses.  There  danced  at  the 
wedding  two-and-twenty  thousand  of  the  most 
splendid  figures,  adorned  with  pearls  and  dia- 
monds; and  Maria,  it  is  said,  is  at  this  hour 
queen  of  a  land,  where  sparkling  Christmas 
woods,  transparent  Marchpane  Castles — in  short, 
where  the  most  beautiful,  the  most  wonderful 
things  can  be  seen  by  those  who  will  only  have 
eyes  for  them. 


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